Farscape Epic RPG: The Grandmaster
by Chant99
Summary: Based on my RPG game. A master assassin is sent to track Berret down. Scorpius appears with an offer for the ex-Shrike, his freedom in return for John Crichton. The neurochip in John's head has not been actived as of yet, and Andar, Malika, and Berret hat
1. Foreword

THE FARSCAPE EPIC RPG UNIVERSE: NEW CHARACTERS & SETTING.  
  
Author's Note: This story was written based on the characters from my Farscape RPG group. I thought I'd try posting it here to see what others thought. But first I need to explain a bit about our RPG so you can follow the extra characters.  
The name of the group is "Farscape Epic RPG" and it can be found on Yahoo groups for those who wish to look us up. The game is based in an alternate Farscape universe that diverges from the shows timeline somewhere after Talyn's birth but before the Chiana/D'argo relationship.  
The Berret character here is basically the same Shrike 457 character from the "Fallen Angel" series posted here at Fanfiction.net. Though the original meeting between Chiana and the Shrike took place in a different way in the game.  
The other new characters in this story are original player characters.  
  
Andar Murdough - is a Sebacean teacher from a forgotten and lost colony. Andar's people have lost so much knowledge over the cycles that space flight is considered science fiction. Andar is abducted by aliens who experiment on his brain trying to increase intelligence. The project works much better then they thought and Andar steals a shuttle and eventually finds his way to Moya. Andar becomes a sponge for any sort of knowledge and begins to go through Moya's data banks learning everything he can. He often sees machines or gadgets in his mind and will disappear for days into his workshop to build them.  
  
Malika Phatan - is a 125-year-old Delvian teenager. After spending a number of cycles as a Peacekeeper slave aboard a command carrier, she and her mother escape in a Prowler, but at the cost of the life of a young PK officer who fell in love and secretly married Malika. After a time of running and hiding, the pair run into a Syndicate Shrike and the meeting leaves young Malika with an intense hatred and distrust for the Enforcers when the assassin kills a client Malika took a job bodyguarding for, and almost kills her and her mother in the process. Sometime after that, Malika's mother is tragically killed, leaving the girl alone. She hears a story about an escaped Leviathan with a Delvian Pa'u aboard and sets out to find the living ship with the hopes of fulfilling her mother's dream of her becoming a Pa'u. She finds Moya and Zhaan (who is alive in our game) and the older Delvian agrees to take her in. However, now there is a Shrike aboard Moya as Chiana's companion and she is having a hard time controlling the tendencies for violence she developed during the hard life she lived on the run from the Peacekeepers. Through young, Malika is also a skilled healer and thanks to her parents, an educated student of exobiology. She sets up a small lab on one of Moya's lower tiers, mostly to hide out from having to be around Berret ... and possibly Andar. Both Andar and Malika feel an attraction to each other, but the Delvian isn't sure she wants to open her heart to another after what happened to her Peacekeeper husband.   
  
Sean Crichton - 70 years after the disappearance of astronaut John Crichton, his descendant Sean uses John and DK's research to construct the Wander module. In an attempt to prove that his ancestor's theories were sound, Sean repeats the slingshot effect and is also thrown halfway across the universe only with a slightly different result. The Wander module is somehow draw backward in time to the Farscape module's location and is expelled from a wormhole near Moya. Sean finds himself stunned to be surrounded by a group of aliens and suddenly faced with a family legend. (This story takes place before the character of Sean Crichton joins Moya's crew)   
  
This story takes place shortly after Andar, Malika, and Berret's arrival on Moya. In our game version of the Farscape universe, the neuro-chip in John's head never became a problem. This story explains what happened to it. (as it was originally written somewhere before the time of Harvey on the show)  
The three characters feel a little out of place with the rest of the crew and decide to go off on this mission to save Crichton by themselves. Andar and Malika to prove themselves and Berret because he feels guilty about his past life as a Syndicate Enforcer. This is also where Berret finds he has certain feelings for Chiana but won't let himself believe that the Nebari, or anyone else, could have feelings for him after what the Syndicate made him in to. Chiana also finds she might be having different feelings for him too then she first thought.  
The story also sets up the framework for later stories where Berret starts to learn the truth about the real Shrike clans and their history. 


	2. Chapter 1

A half cycle earlier...  
  
Scorpius was in a foul mood. He hated being back on the Scarren home world and he hated his cousin's games even more.  
He'd received a coded message from Arckatius a weeken ago. It was short and requested that he meet him in secret on the Scarren home world, a home Scorpius despised with all his being. Scorpius would have ignored the request except for the two words that followed the single sentence invitation - John Crichton. He selected four of his best bodyguards then took a Marauder from his command carrier and went directly to Arckatius' stronghold. Immediately upon landing he was taken along with three of his men into his cousin's throne room. Scorpius looked around the elaborate chamber with all its wealth and a sneer came to his chalk colored face. His cousin was still living his delusional dream of becoming royalty. In the next instant he scowled and growled in disgust. If Arckatius lured him here to waste his time on a drak chase, he'd make sure his relative would pay very dearly.  
The door at the opposite end of the room opened and Arckatius walked in wearing a great flowing robe.  
"Scorpius, how good to see you, cousin," Arckatius said in his rough Scarren voice.  
Scorpius gave him an offhand smile and answered him using his smooth Sebacean voice, knowing that would irritate the Scarren criminal mastermind.   
"I'm not here to exchange pleasantries, Arckatius. Tell me what you know about John Crichton so I may shake the dirt from this drez-forsaken place off my boots as soon as possible."  
"Ah! You haven't changed, Scorpius... always blunt and to the point," said Arckatius with a toothy smile. "I have information and a proposition for you, cousin."  
"What sort of proposition and what kind of information?" Scorpius asked appearing almost disinterested.  
"I know the last location of the prey you seek. In this instants, we both have a common goal," said the Scarren Kingpin.  
"And how is that... 'cousin'?" replied Scorpius.  
"One of my subjects' is traveling with the group your Crichton is with. He has a very important piece of my property with him and I want it, and him if possible... back," revealed Arckatius.  
"I see. How does this concern me? I'll eventually find Crichton without your help so why do I need to make any sort of deal with you now?" Scorpius asked.  
"This 'man' with them is one of my special operatives. If he so chooses, he could use his knowledge and contacts within the underworld to make himself and your prey disappear, most likely forever if they have the chance. Also you should know, Scorpius... information has it that several free-lance bounty hunters may be closing in on your precious Crichton even as we speak. If that happens, our quarry may very well go to ground. I'm offering you my help before that can happen in exchange for your cooperation in getting my property returned to me," explained his cousin.  
"And what would I have to do in order to 'cooperate'?" queried Scorpius as he casually examined a nearby statue. Running one black-gloved hand along its curves while displaying a calculated smile at the offer.  
"I will send another of my operatives with you to help track both men. I'll need your help to get this person through Peacekeeper territory and to allow the freedom the operative will need to complete the mission. John Crichton will be turned over to you unharmed and I get my property back. Everybody wins and everyone is happy," Arckatius said spreading his clawed hands wide in a display of implied joy.  
"And who will this operative be that I am to escort into PK space?" asked the half-breed.  
Arckatius signaled one of his servant-bodyguards and the door opened a second time. A cloaked figure walked into the throne room and approached the pair. The figure went to one knee in front of Arckatius and with one taloned hand brushed back the hood of the dark-red trimmed black cloak. The head that was revealed was covered in dark green scales. The nose was almost nonexistent compared to Scarren standards and the yellow eyes were reptilian slits.   
"You summoned me, Sire. I am here to serve," the being rasped out.  
Scorpius looked over the operative. "Who is he," he asked mildly interested.  
  
Arckatius smiled. "She," he corrected. "This is Val'Cirrus. She is one of my Master Shrikes."  
"One of your mind controlled toys!" growled Scorpius. "I will not have that thing running around my command carrier."  
Arckatius gave a rumble, which passed for a Scarren chuckle.   
"Rise, Val'Cirrus," he commanded, "And show my cousin your pretty neck."  
The reptilian woman came to her feet and opened her cloak far enough for Scorpius to see her armored breastplate and that she wore no control collar around her throat.   
"I said she was a 'Master Shrike'. They wear no collars nor are they slaves. Val'Cirrus chooses to serve and do this kind of work." Arckatius turned to the woman. "You like the thrill of the kill, don't you my dear, Val'Cirrus?" he asked with a sinister purr.  
"Yes, Lord. I live to spill blood for the Syndicate," she hissed and displayed the razor-sharp talons on one hand. Stamping one foot, several blades protruded from the sole of her armor-covered boot.  
"You see, Scorpius? Perfectly safe and in control," said the Scarren. "She will track our prey and deliver Crichton straight into your hands."  
"We may have a deal if you can answer one small question, cousin," said Scorpius after a micron's thought. "Who is this man you lost that you have to send a master assassin to retrieve him?"  
"He's of no concern to you. Val'Cirrus will..." he started.  
"Don't frell with me!" hissed Scorpius, his voice turning Scarren rough. "Who is he?"  
"Oh, very well..." said Arckatius trying to recover his composure after jumping at his cousin's sudden outburst of anger. "His designation is Shrike 457, just a Sebacean slave who momentarily slipped his collar. You need not worry, Val'Cirrus will deal with him and any of the bounty hunters as needed."  
Scorpius wasn't buying his cousin's casual attitude.   
"I see. One of your toys got away from you with some information. Valuable information, I take it."   
To Arckatius discomfort his cousin began to laugh. "If she can find them and bring me Crichton then she can come along. I personally don't care about your lost toys," he finally said.   
Val'Cirrus nodded. "I can find them, Lord Scorpius. You will get the soft skin called Crichton. 457 is prey," she said.  
Scorpius nodded and turned away to leave.   
"Scorpius!" called the Scarren. The Peacekeeper commander turned back to face his cousin. "Make sure none of your men bother Val'Cirrus too much on the voyage... she does so like to kill... 'soft skins'. She enjoys the way they squeal," he said with a rumbling chuckle.  
"Just have her report to my Marauder within the quarter arn," was all Scorpius replied.  
After he was gone Arckatius turned to the Master Shrike. "I don't care what you have to do or who you have to kill... bring me back 457's control collar," he said to her. "And beware of Scorpius. He will betray us the first chance he gets," he added.  
Val'Cirrus bowed while sweeping her hood back up to cover her head and features again.   
"Not even death... my Lord," she vowed in a hiss and then turned and walked away. 


	3. Chapter 2

The present...  
  
"I'm telling you, he cheated us," said Chiana stubbornly. Berret shook his head negatively.  
"He did not. You're just angry because I wouldn't let you steal the charge coil," he replied.  
"He shaurged us for twenty credits on the price. I could have snurched it for free."  
"And gotten us thrown into what passes for the local prison in the deal. It was better to pay for it... even if it was over priced, and keep a low profile. Aeryn gave strict orders about not drawing attention and about not getting arrested," said the Shrike.  
Chiana huffed, "You're such a wet cargo cover."  
"But we are not in jail," countered Berret, "We have three arns before meeting the others back at the Transport Pod. What would you like to do... that's legal?"  
Chiana smiled up at the cloaked man, "Eat... then shop."  
"How surprising," deadpanned the ex-assassin.  
  
The pair found a small establishment where they ordered a snack and something to drink. Berret habitually scanned the other customers as Chiana chatted happily about what items she wanted to try and shop for. Strangely the Shrike didn't notice the being until the Nebari girl pointed it out.  
"That fellow over there has a cloak just like yours," she said idly.  
Berret looked in the direction she indicated. There indeed was a hooded figure in a dark cloak that was trimmed with a dark red boarder at the edges. Something about it seemed vaguely familiar though the Shrike couldn't place his finger on it at the moment. Berret could not make out the figure's features as the hood hid them as well as his cloak's hood hid his own face. The being might have been looking in their direction but it was hard to tell. There appeared to be nothing threatening as the figure seemed content to remain on the other side of the room. Berret forgot the cloaked being as Chiana, anxious to be on their way, urged him to finish his drink.  
  
The pair left the eatery and headed into the market area. They ventured from booth to booth and dealer to dealer, the Nebari shopping and the Shrike carrying the packages. Berret thought he glimpsed a hooded silhouette in the crowd at times but when he turned to look it was gone from view. Chiana found a sign for a Nebari boot maker and followed it to the mouth of an alley off the market grounds.  
"Remind you of anyplace?" asked the gray woman.  
"Yes," said Berret, making a point of kicking a food wrapper out of his way. "My quarters after you're done snacking in them."  
Chiana produced a look of mock insult, "Are you insinuating that I have the eating habits of Rygel?"  
Berret chuckled, "I wouldn't go that far. Shall we say your eating habits are somewhat exuberant?"  
Chiana was about make a retort to her friend when a dark shadow appeared in their path.   
Berret immediately recognized the cloaked figure from the food shop.  
Chiana and Berret looked bewildered at the silent shape for a few microts until the Nebari finally asked,  
"Ummm, can we help you?"  
The hooded head of the figure tilted to one side as if regarding the couple, then a rough voiced hissed from under the cloak, "I have been waiting for you."  
"That's nice," said Chiana in response, "Why didn't you say something to us back at that slop shop?"  
"Not you, girl - him," it said taking a step forward and raising a green-scaled hand from under the cloak, the black claw at the end of one extended finger pointed straight at Berret.  
The hair on the back of Berret's neck began to stand straight up as the feeling of dread and danger grew inside him. The being under the cloak was close to his height and becoming more familiar by the microt.  
"I have waited for you, Shrike 457," the creature said as it lowered the cloak's hood. The reptilian features that were revealed brought vivid flashback into Berret's mind. A Luxan General fighting for his life against a triad of Shrike assassins, and this creature killing three of the General's Luxan bodyguards for pure sport. Here was the Master Shrike that oversaw the last assassination mission of a Luxan he was part of for the Syndicate.  
  
Berret scrambled to push Chiana behind him as the Master Shrike took another step forward and casually raked her claws down Berret's chest. The shiny black tips cutting gouges into his armor's breastplate. With a start he remembered that her natural claws were sheathed in a Bat'Rellite alloy.  
"So you do remember Val'Cirrus, little Shrike," said the being in a hissing mock.  
"Who the frell is that?" demanded the Nebari woman as she caught her balance from Berret's push.  
"Run!" shouted Berret to Chiana as he dropped his own cloak to the ground to free his movement. The twin sets of blades snapped into the open from his gauntlets, "What do you want," growled Berret trying to draw the other Shrike's attention away from Chiana.  
"Arckatius wants his property back and you eradicated. Scorpius wants the soft-skin called Crichton," hissed Val'Cirrus. "For myself, I want to see you squirm, soft-skin. You are my prey."  
"Berret, stop frelling around. Just shoot the scaly bitch!" shouted Chiana. The Master Shrike dropped her cloak, revealing pulse resistant armor much like Berret's. "Oh frell!" added the Nebari as she realized that a pulse weapon wouldn't stop the assassin in time. Only Berret's blades would be able to cut through the armor to inflict any damage on the female Shrike.  
"Go! Before she kills you too," urged Berret while not taking his eyes of the other assassin.  
Val'Cirrus issued a taunting laugh. "Maybe I'll kill her first, make you watch her die... little Shrike."  
Berret didn't bother to respond to the taunt, instead he charged forward and lunged with his blades. Val'Cirrus easily duck and dodged his efforts without raising a hand to defend herself. As Berret made a wide slash at her head, the assassin dropped to the ground and back-kicked him in the stomach. Berret felt the powerful blow even through the overlapping plates of armor covering his abdomen, the assault having driven the air from his lungs and knocking him backwards off his feet.  
  
Chiana was at his side in a flash and ripped the pulse pistol from his holster. Pointing the weapon at Val'Cirrus, she screamed, "You leave him alone, or by Goddess help me I'll blow your frelling head off!"  
The Master Shrike stamped one foot and a set of wicked blades snapped out of her boots. The shiny metal gleamed along the edges of her boot's soles and from around the armor plates covering her calves. With a malevolent grin she rushed forward in a blur toward the young girl as Berret forced himself to inhale air into his lungs.  
"No!" he yelled as the assassin closed on the Nebari. He swept his arm in a wide arc and knocked Chiana's feet out from under her. The girl dropped to the ground just as Val'Cirrus' crescent kick would have removed her head at the neck. The blades caught the pulse pistol as it fell from Chiana's hand, chopping it almost in two.  
Berret surged from the ground and began raining blows at the Master Shrike. Val'Cirrus retreated a few steps and then began to return punches and kicks as fast as she was receiving them. To Chiana, the two combatants traded strikes so fast that everything was a blur of movement and sparks as metal rang off metal when the blades or armor collided. Berret looked like he might be able to hold his own when Val'Cirrus leaped into the air with a spinning back-kick. The tip of one blade at the heel of her boot came down and cleaved through the armor covering Berret's upper left arm. Blood sprayed as the force of the kick drove the male Shrike to the ground once more.  
Berret rolled away and tried to regain his feet but was only able to rise to one knee. Holding his wounded and bleeding arm it was obvious that he was exhausted. Val'Cirrus had landed on her feet and was now regarding Berret with a look of contempt.  
"I had thought you would be more of a challenge. You disappoint me greatly," she said  
"So you've won. It's easy to win when your armor has Qualta inlays," said Berret around trying to draw in breathes. He knew several of his blows struck her armor dead on but merely sparked and bounced off instead of cutting through. The slight discolored designs along the plates could only be a Qualta alloy.  
"It is not my fault you plan poorly for possible conflicts," said Val'Cirrus with a sly grin.  
Berret looked over his shoulder at Chiana and then turned back to the Master Shrike.  
"Let her go," he said, "this is a Syndicate matter between you and I. She's just a Nebari thief and unimportant. She doesn't know anything."  
Val'Cirrus cackled, "My orders are to eradicate all in your company."   
She made a show of looking Chiana over and her long tongue flicked out to lick her lips.   
"Maybe after you are gone I will take her with me. I have heard Nebari flesh can be rather tasty."  
Berret slowly climbed to his feet at the statement, the wounded arm hanging almost useless at his side. The microbes would not repair this damage in time to help him against Val'Cirrus. Never the less, he would die on his feet defending Chiana as long as he was able. He'd always knew death could come swiftly in the Territories; quickly looking down at the Nebari girl he silently mouth his good-byes to her and then raised the blades up on his remaining good arm into a defensive position The Master Shrike chuckled in opened amusement at Berret.  
"Your spirit is willing, but your body is long past able," she sneered. 


	4. Chapter 3

"The spirit can do amazing things, Val'Cirrus," said a voice from behind the group. "You above all others should know that."  
The trio turned as one toward the mouth of the alleyway to see an old Delvian man standing there. The wrinkles on his face were like a roadmap of an overpopulated city that had streets going in every which direction. He was without a doubt the most ancient creature Berret had ever laid eyes on, and he was standing there calmly leaning on his walking stick as if it didn't matter in the slightest that he was facing probably the most dangerous assassin in the known Territories.  
"You!" Val'Cirrus said as if stunned.  
Taking advantage of interruption, Berret hissed to Chiana, "Run! Get out of here!" Turning his attention back to the Delvian he shouted, "Go, old man! Leave while you can before she kills you!"  
Berret's warning didn't seem to have any effect on either the old man or Chiana, as both stood were they where. The old Delvian smiled at the wounded man.  
"Val'Cirrus cannot harm me, Berret. Fear not," the Delvian said with a easy smile.  
The Master Shrike hissed and leaped toward the man, the claws on her hands spread wide ready to rip him apart. The ancient Delvian stood calmly never taking his hands off his walking staff or his eyes off the charging assassin. Mere hentas before she reached him, Val'Cirrus skidded to a halt with one arm posed above her head to strike. The Delvian continued to stare at her with serene eyes and then the killer's look of fury faded into a look of uncertainty.  
"Not today, Marai," said the old man in a quiet voice.  
Berret watched in awe as Val'Cirrus backed away for the man. She uttered a low curse then turned and ran for the alley opening, stopping only to scoop up her cloak as she passed by it. She threw the garment over her shoulders and disappeared out of sight.   
"I don't believe it," panted Berret as he leaned heavily against a nearby wall to keep from falling over.  
"Who are you?" he asked the withered man as Chiana rushed to his side.  
"I am a friend, Berret," replied the old Delvian.  
"How do you know my name?"  
"I know many things about you, though I don't believe 'Berret' is your real name... and though you look it, I know you are not Sebacean."  
Chiana was trying to inspect Berret's wounded arm when she turned and snapped,  
"For a friend, you're not very forthcoming with information. Who the hezmana are you, how do you know what you know about 'Ret... and why did that green tralk run from you, when it just beat the gris out of Berret without breaking a sweat?"  
"Oh... I like her, Berret," grinned the old man good-naturedly. "She has spirit. To answer your questions, my name is Shenna. I have been watching Berret for a long time as well as Val'Cirrus, whom you just met." The old man move beside Chiana to look at Berret's wound. "Here, let me have a look will you, dear?" he asked.  
He removed the armor covering and enlarged the tear in ballistic suit underneath to get a better view of the wound. "Not as bad as it could have been," he commented as he took out some pouches and after cleaning the slash he put several powered herbs into it. He gave Berret a strange food cube, which he said would help the microbes fix the damage to his arm easier as he wrapped the wound in clean bandages. To Berret's surprise the food cube actually tasted good and it seem to satisfy the odd sensation his stomach always had when the microbes demanded food to use in helping repair any damage to his body. Seeing Chiana's inquiring glance he tore off a piece for the Nebari girl to taste. Judging by her smile, Berret concluded that the woman found the cube strange but tasty as well. Berret frowned slightly as he wondered how the old Delvian man knew about his microbe augmentation, but he remained silent to see what the old man would reveal he knew next.  
"There, that should be feeling better in a few microns," said Shenna as he finished tying off the bandage.  
"It is," said Berret with surprise as he flexed his fingers. The numbness in his arm seemed to be wearing off as he flopped the sheared piece of armor back over his bicep to cover the bandage.  
"I trust the booster cube has alleviated your hunger pains also," asked the old Delvian.  
"Yes, it has. Thank you," replied the Shrike guardedly.   
"You're very welcome, my boy," smiled the old man.  
"Now Shenna, if you will... will you tell us who exactly you are and what is going on?" Berret asked.  
"As I said, my name is Shenna and I'm simply a traveler," he said. Without them realizing it the old man had herded them out of the alleyway and into the market square.  
"You don't expect us to believe that, do ya?" asked Chiana skeptically.  
Shenna chuckled merrily, "Indeed, I do not, little Nebari. If truth need be known, I am Zear Shenna... Grandmaster of the Mek-Klor-taZ Clan."  
The old man said the name and title like it should mean something to the young couple. Chiana and Berret looked at each other blankly as neither had a clue as to what the title meant.  
"That's... very nice, old man," said Chiana uncertainly.  
"Yes Shenna, but forgive us as we are unfamiliar with what the Mek-Klor-taZ Clan is," Berret said.  
"I'm not surprised," replied Shenna. "I must confess, I'm being deliberately vague just to tease you. Please forgive an old man his sense of humor. I am what you are, Berret - a Shrike."  
  
  
"A Shrike!" said both Chiana and Berret in harmony. The Nebari girl moved a little to stand closer to Berret. Shenna held up a gnarled hand to calm them.   
"Peace youngsters," he told them in a calm tone. "I am not here to harm you. I have been watching Berret for a long time as I have said and it was necessary for me to intervene in the battle between Val'Cirrus and himself."  
"So you do know that scaly tralk," said Chiana suspiciously. "Is that why she was afraid of you?"   
"It's not so much that she is afraid of me as she respects me. While she calls herself a Master Shrike, I am the Grandmaster of my clan. She would have been foolish not to respect my abilities even at my age."  
"Why would she have to respect you?" asked the Nebari girl curiously. "You don't even look like you're carrying a gun, much less some of those blade thingees that you Shrikes seem to love so much."  
The old Delvian smiled. "I have this," he said showing her his walking staff.  
"That's just a stick," exclaimed the girl in disbelieve, "I've seen Berret's blades cut through metal like paper. What good would that have done you?"  
"Not everything is as it seems, my dear," replied the old man as he gripped the top portion of his staff and pulled upward. The staff split at an almost undetectable seam and several hentas of shiny blade were revealed.  
Chiana whistled and muttered, "Remind me not to gris you off."  
"Is it Bat'Rellite also?" asked Berret in sudden interest as he inspected the small section of blade before Shenna pushed the staff back together.  
"It has a mixture of Bat'Rellite and Bat'Rellite alloys along with other grades of metals. It is very old and was handed down to me from my master as it was from his before him. The blade has been forged and re-forged many times over the cycles as metallurgy improved," explained Shenna. "When it's time I will pass it down to my successor and he or she may improve it again at some point."  
"A very impressive weapon," commented Berret.  
"It is a little more than simply a weapon, my son. Some time in the future I might explain to you it's significance. But that is for another time and we have other issues to discuss. I promise I will explain everything and answer all the questions I am able about the Shrike clans"   
The Grandmaster looked about him around the market place. "Let's find someplace with refreshments to sit and talk awhile, shall we?" he asked.  
  
The trio walked further through the booths and tables. After a short time Berret realized that Chiana wasn't behind him any longer. Muttering a curse that caught Shenna's attention he backtracked a short ways to find the Nebari girl bending over a table with jewelry displayed. Berret knew the girl was out of currency and he could tell by her posture that she was going to attempt to steal something. Actually Berret had come to know the girl well enough that he didn't need to see her tense stance to tell she had snurching on her mind, the gleam in her dark eyes was enough for him to know. The Shrike approached the Nebari female from behind and before she could act placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. The girl frowned up at him as he leaned in close to her and whispered,  
"We have had enough excitement for one day, let us not push our luck with a trip to jail."  
"But look at this bracelet!" she protested, not noticing Shenna come up beside them. "Just one thing, its not even that expensive... he'll never miss it if I snurch it," she whispered.  
"You're going to get us into trouble and Aeryn will have our mivonks for dinner if we do."  
While the pair argued, Shenna leaned over the table to examine the bracelet under discussion. Before Chiana could reply further to Berret's statement of the horrible punishment the ex-Peacekeeper would deal out, the old man beckoned the table's owner over to him and asked the price of the piece. To the Nebari girl's openmouthed dismay, the Delvian purchased the bracelet explaining that the designed reminded him of some Delvian religious symbol. Chiana's face dropped as the Grandmaster safely tucked the item into a pocket of his traveling robes. Crestfallen, the girl moped along behind the men as they continued on their search for a quiet place to talk. For his part, Berret was greatly relieved that the temptation to steal the object had been removed from the Pixie's grasp. With the way this day was turning out, something else surely would have gone wrong. With an uncomfortable feeling he idly wondered what part of their anatomy made up the mivonks and how much discomforted would be involved having the Peacekeeper woman remove them. While he liked Aeryn, he didn't doubt her word for a microt to make good on the threat.   
  
Chiana and Berret fell into step beside the old Delvian. The man set a leisurely pace, his wooded staff clicking against the pavement in time with his footfalls. They passed by several establishments but the old man gave them a look of distain and continued on by without stopping.  
"How long have you been watching me?" asked Berret.  
"For a very long time as I've said, my son," answered Shenna. "Since it became obvious Val'Cirrus had developed an interest in you when you were still with the Syndicate."  
"How come you didn't do anything before now?" asked Chiana. "Why didn't you help Berret before this?"  
"My dear, everything has its time and place. Your friend Berret still has much to learn on his own before anyone can teach him what he wants to know," replied the Shrike Grandmaster.  
"Sounds like more double talk dren to me," Chiana commented with a raised eyebrow.  
"The path to wisdom often does sound like 'double talk dren' to the young," replied Shenna with a patient smile to the girl.  
The trio continued their walk until then came to a small Inn. Without a word, Shenna turned to enter the establishment while Berret and Chiana followed along behind him. He chose a table in the rear of the main room away from the door and removed his outer traveling robe before taking a seat. Shenna motioned for the young couple to sit as he leaned his staff against the nearby wall. After Chiana and Berret were seated across from him he leaned over the table closer to them.  
"I must say, Jared... your traveling companions are very interesting. I could not have chosen better teachers for you myself."  
"What do you mean by that?" asked the ex-assassin He didn't ask how he knew the others aboard Moya as he already admitted he'd been watching Berret. It stood to reason he would know the rest of the crew as well. Shenna leaned back in his seat and took his time forming his answer.  
"Your friends each have something important to teach you. Pa'u Zhaan, while somewhat younger than I," he said with a chuckle, "has wisdom beyond her years. Listen to her and heed her counsel, she will guide you well. The Hynerian, Rygel the XVI, is very savvy when it comes to political intrigue. Learn what he has to teach you. You might need his consul in the future."  
"I have no need for political games," said Berret.  
Leaning forward, Shenna looked hard at the younger man, "You do not yet know what it is you need. A true Shrike learns and adapts to all facets of life."  
The old Delvian settled back in his chair and continued on as if Berret had never interrupted him.  
"From Officer Sun you can learn discipline. Ka'D'Argo will show you the path to honor. Young Malika can teach you perseverance. The young Sebacean Andar, while from a secluded colony world, can show you the arts and how to be creative."  
Chiana snorted, "He's a school teacher from a backwater world who thinks he's poet!"  
Shenna glance at the young Nebari girl, "Some warrior cultures believe that a warrior is not complete just because he is skilled in combat. It is strongly believed that the skills of war must be balance by a creative and temperate skill such as poetry. Many of the greatest warriors in history where also skilled at one or more of the finer, gentler arts. It is important to achieve a balance."  
"I didn't know that?" said Chiana, feeling almost as if she were back in school on Nebari Prime again.  
"There is much you don't know yet, little one," replied Shenna with a grandfatherly smile that made it hard for Chiana to become angry at the man's way of lecturing her.  
  
"What about me? What do I have to teach him?" she asked.  
Shenna's easy smiled turned mischievous. "Now... what could a Shrike have to learn from a Nebari thief?" he asked. The Delvian held out his hand and sitting in the palm was the trinket he had placed in his robe pocket earlier when they stopped in the market. Berret didn't understand why the man was showing them the thin bracelet again until Chiana reacted in stunned amazement.  
"Hey!" she cried, rocketing to her feet and franticly searching through her pockets. The Nebari girl stopped in mid self-frisk as she realized she'd given her attempt at larceny away to the two men seated with her. Shenna eyes crinkled with amusement at the girl's sudden discomposure.  
"It's alright, my dear. I'm not angry. If the bobble pleases you that much, you may have it."  
The Delvian handed the trinket to the girl. Unsure of what else to do, Chiana took it from him.  
"Ummm... thank you," she said sheepishly.  
"You're quite welcome, little one. Now if you don't mind, will you please get an old man a cup of Terza tea from the Innkeeper?" he asked flicking a coin her way to pay for the requested drink.  
"S-sure, okay," replied Chiana catching the coin and getting up from her seat. She curiously looked back over her shoulder at the old man as she made her way to the counter for the herbal tea.  
  
When she was gone, Berret spoke to the older man in a low voice.   
"I apologize for Chiana's behavior. She sometimes doesn't know any better."  
"Of course she does. She just chooses to do the wrong thing anyway," said Shenna bluntly.  
Berret had to admit the man was correct on that fact about his friend, and then a thought occurred to him.  
"You knew she would attempt to steal the bracelet when you purchased it. Why then did you let her take it?" he asked.  
Shenna shrugged his shoulders. "To teach you both a lesson. Just as with the staff, things are not always as they appear to be. Your young friend is talented and she would make an excellent Shrike."  
"I do not believe Chiana would like that notion very much," said Berret with a degree of confidence.  
The old Delvian shrugged slightly to dismiss the thought from the conversation. He looked sidelong at Berret and asked, "So, does she know yet?" The question confused the younger man.  
"Know what?" he asked in puzzlement.  
Shenna smiled. "My son, I'm an old man. But even I can tell that you love her and that she loves you."  
Berret looked at the Delvian Shrike. "In that, I believe you're mistaken. Chiana could never love a creature such as I. With my past I don't know how to love or be loved. We are shipmates... and friends, nothing more. Though I admit I find it odd that Zhaan has made that exact same observation several times. Perhaps Delvians like to think that all beings are as compassionate as they are. I regret to inform you, you will find no such quality in me."  
Shenna chortled and slapped Berret on the shoulder. "Now you're being melodramatic. The two of you are lost souls who have found each other in their time of need. That is what she will teach you.... how to love again."  
Berret considered the old man's words and wondered if he should dare to hope for that dream. Often at times other people thought they were being kind by offering reassurances about future happiness. He decided that Shenna was perhaps doing the same thing now and tried to disregarded thinking further on the subject. Chiana returned with the Delvian's tea and set the cup down before him.  
"Thank you, my dear," he said giving the Nebari woman a warm smile. The woman made a show of placing the correct change on the table before the old man, then moved back to her seat beside Berret.  
She turned to him and asked her friend, "Has he told you what I'm suppose to teach you yet?"  
"Yes," replied the younger Shrike before Shenna could answer the question. "You're going to teach me how to survive in a prison when you get us arrested for stealing."  
Chiana gave him a look that said she wasn't amused, while Shenna lifted an eyebrow at his statement.   
The Delvian remained silent on the subject. It was apparent to Berret the Grandmaster was going to leave the decision on whether or not to reveal the information up to him. In return, the ex-assassin gave the older man a look that said he wanted the discussion to go not further then between the two of them. Shenna set his cup back into its saucer with a tiny clink, gaining the couple's attention back to him again.  
"The most interesting member of your crew is the other human, John Crichton," said the old man. "He has the most to teach you."   
"Crichton? What can Crichton teach me?" asked Berret.  
"How to gris Aeryn off?" put in Chiana with a mischievous grin.  
Shenna surprised Berret by chuckling heartily at Chiana antics.   
"No, my dear," he finally said to her. Turning to Berret he added, "Why... to be human of course."  
  
"I have no wish to be human," said Berret with a deep frown.  
"I have no wish, I don't want... pah!" mimicked Shenna with a dismissing wave of his free hand. "I'm afraid you have no other choice. That is what you are," he replied with another dismissing wave.  
"Cheer up, 'Ret. You and Crichton can hang out and do whatever it is that humans do together," said Chiana.  
Berret turned to glare at the Nebari. "You're not helping matters at all," he told her.  
She took a bite out of a snack food on the table. "Wasn't meaning too!" she said around the mouthful.  
Berret turned back to the older Shrike. "I have no memory of my original home. I have been altered enough by the Syndicate that I would no longer fit in there even if we did find a way back."  
"Goddess, boy!" snorted Shenna. "No one said anything about you returning to that backward planet. Did it ever occur to you that your destiny lies here in the Territories? That this is the path the Goddess has always meant for you to follow? I simply meant, that you need to learn where it is you came from. The Syndicate gave you the powers and the skills. Now you need the temperaments of your people's culture to use them wisely and justly."  
Chiana munched noisily on a cube. "Yeah, Crichton can be your conscious. Tell you who to kill.... who to let live... OUCH!"  
Chiana reached down and rubbed at her shin where Berret had just kicked it under the table.  
"You didn't have to do that!" she complained.  
"Yes, I did," answered the Shrike  
  
Shenna sat back in his chair and rubbed his chin as he watched the exchange between the young couple.  
"Perhaps I was mistaken about the aspects of your relationship," he murmured in amusement to himself.  
Chiana zeroed on the comment right away, "You did tell him something!" she said. Turning to Berret she demanded, "I wanna know what he said!"  
Berret rolled his eyes at her. "He said what I have been saying all along... you are a bad influence on me."  
"You're lying... I know you're lying!" accused Chiana. Turning back to the old man she added,  
"He always lies! I know.... cuz he's bad at it. Please tell me what you told him while I was gone."  
Shenna gave Berret a look that said he thought it mean of him to torment the Nebari girl by keeping her in the dark. Still the old man respected the Shrike's wish to not discuss the matter further. Instead he placed an aged hand over the hyper Nebari girl's.   
"You needn't worry, child. I have told your friend nothing bad. Whether you both realize it... or admit it..." the last part he said with a glance in Berret's direction. "You have a great adventure ahead of you. There will be a few hard times, but it will all be worth it in the end. You'll see."  
"So now you're fore-telling the future, old man?" asked Berret as he raised his cup to take a drink. His attitude was one of displeasure at the old Delvian for giving Chiana false hope about the future.  
"The Goddess works in mysterious ways," Shenna said giving him another of his disarming smiles.  
  
Berret frowned. He did like the old man and he did save the Pixie and himself from Val'Cirrus, but that didn't give him the right to try and sell pipe dreams to Chiana or him. The odds were not in favor of the group surviving. There were too many forces opposing them for their luck to hold out much longer.  
With Scorpius looking for Crichton, the Peacekeepers looking for Aeryn, Rygel, Zhaan, and D'argo, and the Syndicate looking for him, the crew was eventually doomed. Even the Nebari would like a chance to get their hands back on Chiana, which left Andar and Malika along for the ride to hezmana. He still wasn't sure but he believed that the Peacekeepers might also be after the tight-lipped young Delvian woman also.  
Berret knew they were living on borrowed time and the best he could hope for was to die with his hands locked around Arckatius' throat in a death grip. He did have the one wish that in the end the Pixie might get away and live her life out somewhere free and safe, but he doubted that would happen and he knew life was rarely fair.  
He looked back up to find Shenna studying him from across the table. Almost as if the old Shrike knew what he'd been thinking, he said, "Things are not that bad. The time for change is coming soon. Bide your time and you will see."  
Chiana had stuffed another snack cube into her mouth as Shenna spoke. She looked back and forth between the two men who had their eyes locked on one another.   
"N-ow whud uu oww wtalkin 'bout?" she tried to asked around the cube.  
Berret couldn't help but to ignore the mumbled question. Strangely the look in Shenna's eyes had him leaning toward believing the old man's prediction... and he found himself wanting to believe it desperately, and cursed himself for it.  
Berret broke his gaze away from the old man's. Setting himself back in his seat, he chose change tactics and started another line of questioning.  
"You said you would tell me more about the history of the Shrikes," he asked.  
"Yes, that I did," admitted Shenna.  
"In that case, the first question I have is... how can a Delvian be a Shrike?" asked Berret.  
Shenna gave the younger man a lop-sided grin. "You believe all Delvians are priests?"  
Berret thought the man's question over. "Logically that would not be possible. Every society needs its different occupations in order to function," he concluded.  
The old Shrike nodded his head in agreement, "And Delvian society is no different."  
"But why chose to be an assassin?" asked Berret.  
"It was not always so," said Shenna almost sadly. "The Shrike Clans are ancient, much older then the criminal world of the Black Syndicate. For thousands of cycles Shrikes have served empires and rulers as warriors, advisers, spies, and yes, even as assassins when needed. In the old times the Shrikes fought on the side of the Just, Clan honor would demand no less of it's members. It is only in recent times, say about the last thousand cycles, that the myth and legends of the Shrikes has been corrupted and twisted to serve the Syndicates ends."  
"How do you know all this?" asked Chiana  
"My child, I was there. I am over fifteen Deckata-cycles old you know," replied Shenna.   
Berret mouth fell open at the statement. "You are over fifteen-hundred cycles old!" he asked in amazement.  
"Yes," said Shenna simply. "Well, closer to sixteen... and I look very good for my age if I do say so myself."  
Berret shook his head in wonder. "Back to the story, you say the Shrikes fell in with the Syndicate around a thousand cycles ago?"  
Shenna snorted, "I never said such a thing. I said the Syndicate corrupted and twisted the legends to their own ends."  
Chiana nodded in agreement as she devoured another snack cube, "Y-eah! He-v di-tt!" she said.  
Berret tried to ignore the bits of cube sprayed his way and absently handed the Nebari girl a napkin.  
"The creatures that call themselves Shrikes, or rather who the Syndicate labels as Shrike, are nothing more then weak imitations," explained Shenna. "They are simply collared slaves or beings who enjoy murder."  
The younger man shifted uneasily in his chair. "Val'Cirrus seemed genuine enough," he said.  
Shenna's face began grim at the mention of her name. "Val'Cirrus is another matter entirely."  
"Is this were I point out again that you two seemed to know each other back there?" asked Chiana.  
"Yes, there is that," agreed Berret.  
"She and I do have a history," admitted the old Delvian. "Over twelve-hundred cycles ago I began to train as a Shrike under my Masters, just as they trained under their Masters before them and so on. From teacher to student is how the knowledge of the old ways is passed on. In my time, I also passed on that knowledge to my students."   
Berret could see where this was leading. "Val'Cirrus was one of your students," he said  
Shenna nodded. "I saw the potential in her," he said sadly. "She could have been an honorable Shrike, one of the greatest in a dying Clan. But her life before finding the clan was hard and it scarred her more deeply then I had realized. She was only interested in learning how to kill those she perceived as her enemies. As soon as I realized this, I stopped training her and tried to heal her. You see, even a old Delvian warrior like me still feels the need to ease other's pain." The last statement was accompanied by a painful look in the old man's eyes.  
Taking a deep breath, Shenna forged ahead with his tale. "There were others who were also watching Val'Cirrus, though I should mention, that wasn't her name back then. She took it when she became an assassin for hire. These others offered to complete her training in exchange for becoming what she is today."  
The bitterness in Shenna's voice did not escape the Nebari woman. "She meant something to you back then?" she asked.  
Shenna shook his head as if to knock the memories loose, "That is neither here or now. Call it a foolish old man's folly if you will. She was living on the streets, alone and abused, when I found her and brought her into the Clan and tried to give her life direction."  
Chiana became very quiet as she realized the parallel between her life and Val'Cirrus'. Berret made the connection also and considered the fact that in a way, Shenna saw himself and his old student in Berret and Chiana - the Shrike and the young street urchin.   
"I suppose in a way I saw her as the daughter I never had," said the old man despondently.  
Berret frowned at having to say his next words to the old Shrike, "I'm sorry, Shenna. But your 'daughter' means to kill me and the others if she can and then hand Crichton over to Scorpius. That is something I can't let happen right now if I can help it."  
"I know, my son," was all the old man replied to the statement.   
  
"I still don't know why she has focused on me?" said Berret.  
"Isn't it obvious?" asked Shenna  
"Because she doesn't like him?" threw in Chiana.  
"No, child. She despises Berret because he is the one thing she wasn't allowed to become."  
"A major pain in the eema?" asked Chiana again.  
Berret made as if to kick her under the table again and Chiana quickly drew her legs up onto the chair's seat out of reach before he could complete the task.  
Shenna shook his head, "It is within Berret's grasp to become a Shrike warrior, by that I mean a real Shrike. That is what she hates, what she wants to destroy before he reaches his full potential."  
Berret shook his head stubbornly at the man's words. "I am not a Shrike," he half growled. "I have no desire to continue in this manner or to become more proficient at it. I have enough blood on my hands." Berret looked from Shenna to Chiana and then back to the old man again as he continued to refute the other's observation.  
"Besides, I am not Delvian or whatever race Val'Cirrus belongs too, so how can I possibly be a Shrike. You yourself admitted to knowing that my species does not even belong here in the Territories. For a time, I was forced to become one of those fake Shrikes the Syndicate uses. I am not any longer. I am free and I intend to stay that way for as long as I have left to live." 


	5. Chapter 4

Shenna sadly shook his head; he was beginning to notice a pattern in the way Berret spoke about himself in the future tense.  
"That is another thing you have no choice about. A Shrike is not of any one race or culture. In reality you don't practice or learn to become a Shrike, you are simply born to be a Shrike."  
Reminded of his lost life and what might have been, Berret suddenly become angry. He found himself panicking in despair at the thought of being trapped forever in the role of an assassin.   
"Now you're not making sense, old man. I wasn't born or meant to be here in the Territories, let alone one of your mystic Shrike warriors. I was taken from my home and my life by force and then turned into this creature you see before you. The only thing I want from this existence is to kill Arckatius before it ends. I don't want to learn politics, discipline, honor... or poetry!"   
Without realizing it, his voice had grown in volume and he was drawing attention from around the room.  
Berret didn't understand this emotion that raged unexpectedly within him but for some unknown reason he let it have full rein, no longer able to hold it in check.   
Rising to his feet he leaned over the table closer toward the old Delvian Grandmaster.  
"There is no 'happy ending' for us!" he spat at Shenna, "There is only blood and death. I have lived with them for so long I know nothing else."  
Chiana sat taken aback at the uncharacteristic venom in her friend's voice that was directed at the kindly old man. "Berret, take it easy..." she began.  
Berret glanced her way, but it was as if he really no longer saw her.   
"There is no love... or a chance to be loved for me," he snapped accusingly in her direction.  
Without thinking, he had revealed Shenna's earlier assertion to Chiana. Her open mouth expression paused his rage cold for a moment as he realized what he'd done. He saw understanding flare in her eyes for a microt and Berret felt himself burn with shame, his secret and disability laid bare. It was not the Nebari girl's fault that he was unable to share simple common emotions, not that he deserved to be happy or cared for after all the lives he snuffed out. He wanted to scream in the old Shrike's calm face that with all the blood on his hands that he had no right to ask another being to share their life with him. How can Chiana not look at him and find the thought of accepting his affections after all he had done as vile as he did. Despite all her assurances that what happen to him was not his fault and she didn't think badly of him, he knew that if she'd seen the things he'd done... she couldn't help but to turn away in disgust. If he couldn't bare himself, how could she?  
Nothing she had experience or lived through in her hard life would prepare her for the atrocities he was force to perform. Now Shenna was selling dreams that they had a chance of a happy life together. The Pixie deserved a happy life... just not with him. It might be a good thing his emotions were frelled up; otherwise he might have ended his life himself long ago.  
  
" ...'Ret, we need to talk," said Chiana as she become aware of what Berret's slip-up had meant and had an odd feeling why the comment had been directed at her instead of the older man.  
"It's a fantasy," muttered the younger Shrike to no one in particular. He looked back at Shenna and said. "I have enough nightmares and I don't need anymore of your shoved dren. I'm not interested in becoming one of your students. I just want this to end. After Arckatius is dead, I'll gladly let Val'Cirrus take my head if that is what she wants... but not before."  
Shenna remained silent as Berret spoke. Chiana got up from her chair and tried to calm the man down.  
"Berret, please... we can talk about this," she said grabbing his arm. "You don't mean all that."  
"Don't I?" said the man, the wild look in his eye letting her know he was indeed serious.  
He yanked his arm free of her grasp saying, "Leave me alone, Chiana. There is nothing here for me. You can listen to his fairy tales if you wish. I have had enough."  
A large humanoid wandered over to their table, drawn by the commotion. The man was obviously security for the Inn. He stopped just behind Berret and stared down at the smaller man in disapproval.  
"Is there something wrong here?" he rumbled to the trio.  
Berret rounded on the man. "Yes, You're standing too close to me," he growled.  
Before the man could reply, the Shrike reached up and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. He spun and threw the being into the wall behind them. The man hit the wall hard and slid to the floor stunned.  
Berret turned with a swirl of black cloak and stalked toward the Inn's exit. Other patrons scurried out of his path after seeing the bouncer's fate. An overturned chair felt the blunt of the Shrike's anger as an armored boot splintered it to pieces as Berret kicked it out of his way.   
  
Chiana blinked in confusion. Never before had she seen Berret so outright angry. She had seen him moody countless times since they had meet, but this was something all together new for the man. Shenna had moved to help the security man to his feet and apologized to the Innkeeper for the incident. He slipped a number of coins into the proprietor's hand to cover the damages and a little something extra to smooth things over with the bouncer. When he was finished, Chiana moved in front of him to block his way in case he tried to leave without answering her questions. The old Delvian began slipping into his outer traveling robes as Chiana cocked her head to one side and asked,  
"What the frell was that all about? What did you tell him?"  
"I told him the truth, child. Nothing more," replied Shenna.  
"No, I don't buy that," said the Nebari stubbornly. "There's something more than that. I've never seen him react that way. What did you say exactly? What did he mean about 'no happy endings and not being able to be loved?"  
The Delvian pursed his lips together and thought a microt before answering her.  
"Your friend doesn't believe he deserves to be happy. In fact, he very much hates himself right now. He's shouldering all the blame for what the Syndicate did to him and all they made him do in their name. Berret feels he could have done something to stop it and won't accept the fact that there was nothing he could have done."  
"So he sees it as his failure and wants to punish himself?" concluded Chiana.  
"Yes, in a way," said Shenna as he picked up his staff and steered the Nebari girl to the door.  
"Then what does failing to stop the Syndicate's mind-frelling have to do with someone loving him?" she asked as they stood on the Inn's front steps.  
"Again, he doesn't feel he deserves it. He doesn't think he's worthy of the one who loves him, or that she would accept what he views as his corrupted affections. That is the reason he wants Arckatius' life so badly. In a way he believes that by killing Arckatius he will be killing what he sees as the evil in himself. Then he will feel he has gone some ways into atoning or wiping the slate clean."  
"So he really doesn't want Val'Cirrus to kill him in the end then?" asked Chiana.  
"I'm afraid he does," admitted the old Shrike. "To him, it is still too late to totally redeem himself, to undo all he has done even with killing the Scarren. His only answer is to someday die for his sins."  
  
"What can we do to change his mind?" asked Chiana.  
" 'We' can't. Only the one who loves him and who he loves has that power," replied Shenna.  
Chiana searched the crowd looking for a sign as to where Berret went as the old man spoke.  
Her head snapped back in his direction as his last statement sank in and confirmed the line of thought she had been considering since her friend's outburst at the table.   
"Berret is in love? Who is it, is it Zhaan? Does he love Zhaan?" she asked.  
Shenna shook his head. "I'm quite sure Berret is very fond of Pa'u Zhaan, but I'm reasonably sure it's not her."  
Chiana bit her lip as she thought, "Aeryn then? He and Aeryn have more in common being they are both sort of warriors and they spent a lot of time together working on his ship... but that'll never work because Aeryn's in love with Crichton."   
"No, it is not Officer Sun," said the Delvian.  
"We're running out of females and I'm reasonably sure Berret's not into males. The new girl... Malika.  
Is it her?" she continued and then changed her mind, "Nah, can't be her. She can't even stand to be in the same room with him."  
"You know who it is," replied Shenna.  
Chiana stopped the old man in the middle of the street and gazed up at the stooped figure opened mouthed.  
"You can't be serious... me? Berret is in love with me?" Chiana said.  
"Stranger things have been known to happen, little Nebari," replied Shenna with an amused smile. "Now, lets us get out of the street before a transport runs us down shall we?"  
  
Chiana jumped down from the stone block she'd climbed up on to get a look over the crowds on the street.  
"I can't see him anywhere," she said as she brushed the dirt off her gloved hands.  
"It maybe better if we let him have some time alone," answered the old Delvian.  
"What happens if Val'Cirrus finds him before we do?"  
"I doubt Val'Cirrus is still in the area after our run in. She'll withdraw and regroup to come at Berret in a different way now that she knows I'm here and involved," said Shenna.  
Chiana sat down beside the man on the public bench. "I don't like that we're not together. We need to get off of this rock as soon as possible," the Nebari woman said.  
The Delvian made no comment to her last statement. Her face screwed up as she wandered heavily into thought over the new situation.  
"What are we gonna do?" she asked a few microns later.  
"I was thinking we should sit here and see if your friend wanders by."   
"No, I mean about Berret... you know, being in love with me?" she specified.  
"What do you want to do about it?" asked the old man in turn.  
Chiana sighed heavily and rolled her eyes, "Do you always answer a question with a frelling question?"  
"No, not always. And you should really learn to control your cursing. It's unattractive and very un-lady-like," said the Shrike Grandmaster.  
"What are you? My Grandfather?" asked Chiana slightly annoyed.  
"No. Just an old man who's sitting on a public bench in the company of a beautiful young lady and enjoying this lovely afternoon," replied Shenna in a leisurely manner. "You see, my dear... if you have something important to say you need only say it with confidence and dignity to get people to listen."  
Strangely, Chiana found herself thinking about what the old man was saying and it was making sense to her. She suddenly noticed how the old man took his time whenever he spoke, as if others would gladly wait for him to finish speaking his thoughts in his own good time. She shook her head a microt later.  
"I never though of it that way. You're right and I'm sorry. Now getting back to Berret, what do I do about him?"  
Shenna was about to speak when Chiana cut him off.   
"I know, I know... 'What do I want to do about him,' " she quoted. "The truth is I don't know what I want to do about him."  
"Well, actually I was going to ask... how do you feel about him?" said the old man.  
"I-I dunno," she answered. "We're friends, partners in crime... though he's honest to the point of being boring most of the time. "  
"I see," was all the Delvian said to her.  
"I'm not sure if I want things to be like that between us. He treats me as an equal, not like a child like the rest do. Its important for me to have somebody who takes me seriously, ya know?" she said.  
"Indeed I do, child... er, Chiana," answered Shenna.  
"That's okay, old man," she said to him with a small smile because she was finding him easy to talk too.  
"I don't wanna lose what we have. If me and Berret get 'close' like that, everything will change."  
"That it will," agreed Shenna solemnly.  
  
Chiana looked down at the ground between them. "My other relationships like that... they never turned out so good," she confessed. "I always get close to someone and just when I began to feel safe with them, they don't want me around anymore... or I get scared and purposely do something so they don't want me around afterwards."  
She fidgeted on her side of the seat and began to play with a piece of litter on the ground with the toe of one boot. A wrinkled blue hand reached over and gently tilted her chin up so she was looking at the old Delvian again.   
"Child... Little Pixie..." he said and she wondered how he knew Berret's pet name for her. "If ever I saw two people in need of each other, it is the two of you. Have faith, little one. The Goddess has entwined your paths for a reason."  
Chiana let out a small quiet chuckle, "Now you're starting to sound like Zhaan."  
"Thank you, then I am in good company and I'll take that as a compliment, " he said with a gentle smile. "He's a good man, Chiana, but he needs you to show him that he is. " Shenna tilted his head as he regarded the young woman. "...and you do love him," he added.  
Hands folded in her lap; the Nebari girl nodded her head. "I know," she whispered  
Shenna again placed a hand over the girl's smaller ones. "When the time comes, you might have to take that chance for the both of you and show him the way to his heart," he told her.  
"When will that be?" she asked.  
Shenna smiled and patted her hands before replacing his hand on his staff to help him rise to his feet.  
"In the Goddess own good time, dear. You will know when," he assured her as he stood up " When the time is right, she'll let you know when. Now, shall we see if we can find our wayward friend?" 


	6. Chapter 5

Berret had not been paying attention to which way he had wandered. When he had started out, any direction where the old man wasn't was good enough at the time. Now as he looked around he realized he'd lost track of where he was. He wasn't worried as he had a homing device in a pocket that would lead him back to the Pod when he was ready. Right then he didn't much feel like having to face Chiana and try explaining his unreasonable outburst, especially when he didn't fully understand it himself. He was just about to reach for the device to check his location when a smooth voice from behind him said,  
"Your run in with Val'Cirrus was very unfortunate. I have noticed that she lacks a certain... 'finesse' in relating with others."  
Berret spun in a blur, the air ringing with the metallic tone of his blades snapping open.  
"My! You are fast," said the black clad figure behind him.  
Despite the words, Berret had the feeling the creature wasn't all that impressed with his speed.   
"Who are you?" the Shrike demanded.  
"Oh, my apologizes. We have not been formally introduced. I am Scorpius," said the cadaverous figure with a slight mock bow. "And you are the former Shrike 457. I believe they call you... 'Berret' now. I have heard so much about you."  
"Scorpius!" Berret hissed at the name. Bringing up the twin sets of blades he made as if to charge the half-Scarren. Scorpius held up a casual hand to halt the man. His unconcerned behavior gave Berret pause and he held his place.  
"Please, there's no need for violence," he said with a smile. "You've already guessed I'm not here alone and that you are covered by my men."  
"I could kill you before they have the chance to stop me. If you claim to know so much about me then you'll know it wouldn't matter much to me if they killed me or if Val'Cirrus did," responded the Shrike.  
"No, I don't believe it would matter much to you. I wager what would matter to you is the fate of your little Nebari tralk that you so conveniently left behind at that charming Inn. I also have men in place watching her and the old Delvian beggar that interrupted your meeting with Val'Cirrus," put in Scorpius. "I must say, I am less then impressed with her after that little incident."   
"So we have a stand-off. What is it you want, Scorpius?" asked Berret.  
"Not you... or your two friends at the Inn, I assure you," Scorpius said to him. "I have a proposition for you instead."  
"And that is?" inquired Berret.  
"I'll make Val'Cirrus disappear and give you and the Nebari girl free passage out of this system with a substantial reward, if you in turn... bring me John Crichton."  
Berret was about to tell Scorpius to go to hezmana in reply to his offer when the Peacekeeper commander held up a hand to forestall him from speaking.  
"I'll also help you take your revenge on Arckatius," he added.  
Berret paused at the added offer; his interest peaked. "How?" he asked a few microts later.   
Scorpius smiled knowing he'd hit upon something the man valued more then currency, the life of the being who enslaved him.  
"I have certain knowledge about several of his weaknesses that you could use to your advantage."  
As the Shrike considered his offer the wrist blades slid back into the gauntlets.  
"The girl and I go free and you take care of the Master Shrike if I turn Crichton over to you?" repeated the Shrike.  
"With a reward and the information, that is the deal," replied the half Scarren.  
"Why would I trust you?" asked the Shrike.  
"You don't have too if it upsets you that much. I have taken measures to assure Crichton will end up in my possession in the end anyway should you refuse my offer," replied Scorpius.  
"Then why do you need me for? What measures are you referring too?" asked Berret, suddenly knowing Scorpius had just risen the stakes in their meeting.  
"Let us just say, it would be much more expedient and safer for Crichton if you brought him to me instead of letting my precautions go into effect or attempting to take him by force."  
Berret knew the Scarren half-breed was hinting at something ominous about John and he would not be getting any details soon out of the leather-clad Peacekeeper scientist. Originally Berret had hoped to toy with Scorpius long enough to get a chance at killing him. Now with the news about John, he had to change his plans. "What about the others aboard the Leviathan?" he asked.  
"Do you really care about what happens to them?" Scorpius asked with a sly grin.  
"No," said Berret dispassionately.  
The Shrike's next words brought a smile to Scorpius's face. He had guess right that the assassin would be loyal only to himself and his wants.  
"How do I contact you when I have Crichton ready for delivery?" Berret asked.  
  
Malika was working late inside her small lab on Moya's lowest tier. She hadn't been able to sleep so she came down to the lab to set a few more pieces of equipment up. She'd just finished assembling a bio-scanner when she turned around and literally ran into the Shrike. Startled, the young Delvian woman sharply inhaled and probably would have screamed if Berret hadn't quickly covered her mouth with one hand to silence her. The Delvian had gone out of her way to avoid the man as much as possible and she would have been hard pressed to recall ever hearing him speak three times. Until now it had been easy to avoid the assassin as he spent most of his time with the Nebari girl, but here he was in her lab, what she'd began to consider her private place and she was sure that he meant to attack her. Malika found she was becoming angry and was just about to retaliate when the Shrike released his hold over her mouth after it became obvious she wasn't going to yell out in alarm though he still held her by one arm. The man leaned in close and said in a low voice, "I need your help."  
  
Andar was having a fitful dream about home when a musical voice called his name. Groggily he tried to roust himself from sleep but decide it was too much trouble and let his head drift back down onto his pillow. The voice came again, this time more persistent. A hand grabbed his shoulder and shook him roughly.  
"Andar!" the voice called loudly in his ear. The Sebacean pried open one eye and a head of sapphire hair started to come into focus, followed by a sweet blue face with a delightfully pointed chin that Andar had always found attractive on females.   
"Ma-lika?" he asked the hovering form sleepily. A black clad figure leaned over the Delvian girl and Andar shot fully awake as he recognized Berret.  
The Delvian was a welcomed surprise, but the Shrike was not. He wondered what had happened that brought the unlikely pair to his quarters at such a late arn.  
"What's going on?" he asked confused.  
"We need your help," replied Malika  
"We cannot talk here. Get dressed... we have much to discuss," added Berret.  
Andar looked down and remembered he was wearing nothing but an undergarment, a fact that Malika seemed to be closely inspecting. He blushed at the young woman's attention and pulled a blanket up to cover himself.  
"Ummm, all right. Give me a micron to get dressed then," he said.  
  
"Why don't we just take this to the others?" asked Andar after Berret had explained to him the meeting with Scorpius.  
"Because they will insist on interfering with the mission. We three are the newest members aboard Moya; it is we three who stand the best chance of succeeding. As they don't know us well enough, the others will not trust us to do what has to be done and will want to take matters into their own hands. The same condition that fuels their lack of trust is our greatest edge. They are known to the Peacekeepers in this sector while we are not."  
Berret stole a glance at Malika. By her reaction he was now reasonably sure the girl was wanted by Peacekeepers somewhere else. The fact that Scorpius had not mentioned her or Andar by name in their discussion told the Shrike that the half-breed was not yet aware of their presence aboard the Leviathan.  
"If the others try what I proposed, they would be captured almost instantly," he finished.  
"If we don't do anything then Crichton's going to be in deep trouble," put in Malika.  
"Very deep trouble," agreed Andar. The Sebacean man thought for a few microts then asked Berret,  
"There is one thing that puzzles me, why didn't you take this Scorpius' offer?"  
Berret turned to him, his eyes cold and dispassionate making it hard for Andar to tell if he had offended the Shrike or not. He replied, "I have done many things that I'm not proud of in my time here in the Territories... I do not plan on adding betrayal to that list. Scorpius assumes that I will be looking out for my own best interests. That is a weapon we will use against him."  
Andar nodded. "So I guess this is up to us?" he asked no one in particular.  
"I see no other way," confirmed Berret.  
"Zhaan and the others won't be very happy with us about this in the slightest," said Malika.  
"It's for their own good, I have to agree," answered Andar. "So we're going to go with this plan?"  
Berret nodded and Malika stood up. "I'll go and start to gather what we need from ship's stores," she told them. The Delvian woman left her lab, leaving the two men alone. Andar looked up at the calm Shrike.  
"Berret?" he asked. When he had the ex-assassin's attention he continued, "I didn't want to say anything in front of Malika, but I've never been a soldier. I'm a teacher; this spy and covert warfare stuff is new to me. What if I can't pull it off and get us caught."   
"I believe I at one time heard you say you studied all the great playwrights of your culture, is that not correct?" asked Berret.  
"Well, yes... but what does that have..." started Andar.  
"Spying or infiltrating an enemy stronghold is often nothing more than acting a part to fit in. People rarely question those that seem to belong. You'll have to play from your strengths and draw upon what you know," Berret told him. "Sprout your quotes and act arrogant as you always do... and you will pass for a well-educated High Command Peacekeeper."  
It took Andar a few microts to realize that the ex-assassin actually delivered the last comment with a slight smile. The man was trying to make a joke to set him at ease.  
Andar thought over what Berret had said, "I never looked at it that way before. I think I know several plays and books I can take parts from to make up a believable persona."  
"That is all we can ask for," said Berret. "You also seem to have a gift for electronic and informational systems. Even in the short time you have been here, your grasp of the subject far out reaches mine. We will need both you and the Delvian girl's skills to retrieve the codes we need."  
Andar nodded, excited as more ideas came to him in a rush. "I'll go down to stores and help Malika," the Sebacean man said. "There are several items I will also need to gather that I think will be useful."  
  
Andar departed from the room scribbling on a sheet of paper a list of things he wanted. When Berret was alone the holo-comm switched on behind him. Cursing softly when he heard the slight hum of the device, he asked without turning around, "You heard everything?"  
"Yes," said Pilot. "I did."  
"You understand we have to be the ones to do this?" he said as he turned to face the image. "There is no other option."  
"I see your reasoning, though I don't fully agree with it. It would be better if the others knew, but I also believe that you are correct in your assumption that they will want to take part in the operation."  
"That will surely lead to disaster," said Berret.  
"I regrettably have to agree once more. Though the thought of taking those 'children' into danger unsettles both Moya and I."  
"I know, there is no other choice. If I could do this alone I would do so. I will do as much as I can to limit their exposure to the danger," said the ex-assassin.   
"I am sure you will, Shrike Berret," replied Pilot. "Will it really be that bad for Crichton if we just depart this sector instead of sending the three of you into Scorpius' hands?"  
Berret stopped to think about what Pilot was saying. It would indeed be easier to leave, after all what was Crichton to him. The Shrike shook the thought from his mind and turned back to look at Pilot's image.  
"If what Scorpius says is true and he fully actives that device he implanted in Crichton's head back on the Gammack base... no matter where Crichton is, it will take him over eventually. If Malika, Andar, and I fail to get the abort codes... Crichton is doomed."  
Pilot's imaged nodded at Berret as he concurred with the Shrike's assessment.  
"One more thing, I understand Malika and Andar's willingness to help... but why are you doing this, Berret? I had thought that you cared little about the other members of the crew except for Chiana," asked Pilot with calculated interest. "Is it not a risk for you with the Master Shrike, Val'Cirrus, so close by?"  
Pilot statement brought Berret up short. He had not realized that even Pilot though so little of him, that he was so self-centered. Granted, he had not cared enough to give the others reason to think otherwise of him.  
Berret broke into a cold sweat thinking of the possibility of having to face the Master Shrike again as he replied, "Yes, Pilot. It is a risk... even though Scorpius has agreed to remove her. But it is what I believe Chiana would choose to do in the end despite her streak for self-preservation. I'm trying to learn to be a part of this crew. Its very difficult for me, Pilot... but I am trying." 


	7. Chapter 6

"I WILL NOT wear this!" said Malika stubbornly. "I look like a common alley tralk."  
"That is the idea," said Berret simply.  
"No... no, it looks very nice on you," said Andar as he swallowed hard.  
Malika gave the Sebacean man a look that said she wanted to rip his eyes out. Andar held up both hands as if to say he was very sincere about his comment being a compliment. The tension between the two gave Berret pause as he mentally stepped back and reassessed Malika's attire. The young Delvian was wearing what amounted to a scattering of revealing leather and silk scarves. He had to admit that there was much more blue skin revealed then this Delvian normally showed. While Zhaan was perfectly happy clothed or naked and could not see a reason why everyone else shouldn't be also, in contrast Malika had always worn full length dresses or PK issue surplus uniforms when she was working at something that called for getting dirty and/or greasy.  
"Why does Andar get to wear a Peacekeeper uniform and I have to look like a tramp?" the girl complained.  
"Because there are no Delvian Peacekeepers. They are only servants or pleasure slaves. You know this, Malika," answered the ex-assassin.  
Malika grumbled under her breath. Berret realized it was hard for her to accept having to play a role that reminded the young woman so much of her past life, but the ruse would be necessary if she was to move freely among Peacekeepers on a base or command carrier.  
"I still don't see why I can't just be a plain serving slave," she muttered sullenly.  
Berret sighed wearily to himself and was ready to begin explaining the situation to the Delvian once again, but Andar had a better handle on an idea to appease the woman.  
"Look, Malika..." he said as he grabbed the girl's arm and dragged her over to a nearby mirror. Making her look at her own reflection he continued, "Don't hit me, but coming from a male prospective... nobody is going to buy this face as just another serving slave," He brushed some strands of blue hair away from her cheeks. "This vision of beauty... does not say... common pot scrubber. It hints at untold nights of love and passion... of unknown ecstasy. Doesn't it, Berret?" he finished looking over his shoulder at the Shrike for support. Caught by surprise, the ex-assassin blinked in bewilderment. Andar rolled his eyes covertly, urging the other man to hurry up and get with the program.  
After a few microts Berret caught on and hurriedly added, "Oh yes, definitely... unknown ecstasy."   
Malika ran her fingers through her hair and then asked Andar, "You really think I'm pretty?"  
"Oh yes, definitely treasured pleasure slave material if I ever saw it," said Andar, who then kick Berret in the shin to signal him that he should be agreeing along with him.  
"Yes... treasured... very much so," the Shrike said lamely.  
Andar threw him a sidelong look that told the ex-assassin he was being far from convincing with his support.   
Malika frowned at herself in the mirror and said, "You're both full of dren, but I get your point."  
She turned back to glare hard at both men and added, "But so Goddess help me, if either of you get any ideas..."  
She left the threat hanging menacingly unfinished and Andar put up both hands to protest his pure intentions.  
" I swear by the Goddess that I have always been and always shall be a gentleman," he told her.  
Caught off guard as Malika turned her withering gaze upon the Shrike, Berret quickly added,  
"No-No, I have no ideas."  
The Delvian turned back to look at herself in the mirror, "I guess I can put up with this skimpy attire for the greater sake of the mission." She uttered the comment more as an idle thought to herself.  
Andar looked pleased with himself at overcoming the obstacle even though it was the girl who had made the decision in the end. By the way the young Priestess re-inspected her garb in the mirror's reflective surface, Berret had the feeling that the woman was not as totally displeased with the outfit as she let on to be. The Shrike sighed to himself as he came to believe that he would never fully understand what a female was thinking or would do in given situation... the gender was highly unpredictable he concluded.  
  
The group had decided it best to leave within the arn. Once safely well away from Moya, Berret would contact Scorpius and arrange a meeting. After collecting the supplies they need and stowing them inside the Wraith, Berret left the others and made one last trip back to his quarters to pick-up a few items he decided he would or might need, among them... a few of the more concealable weapons he owned. He entered his room and without looking about went right to his storage chest, that was almost his undoing. Behind him the lump of blankets stirred on his bed and Chiana's sleepy voice asked, "... 'Ret?"  
In all the planning he had forgotten the Nebari girl would probably be sleeping in his quarters and he had not thought to ask Pilot if she was indeed there before deciding to make the stop. He carefully placed his equipment into the small bag he'd brought and then closed the chest before standing up and answering her.  
"Yes, Pixie... its only me. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."  
"That's okay," said the girl with a yawn as she propped herself up on one elbow. "What are you doing still up? Come to bed."  
"I couldn't sleep so I decided to do some work in the shop," replied, surprised at how easy the lie came to his lips. Chiana absently mussed her hair as she scratched an itch. "Are you still thinking about what Shenna said today? Is that what's keeping you up?" she asked, knowing the man had been quiet and solemn on the return trip to Moya. He had refused to speak further with the old Shrike and Shenna promised to meet with them another time when Berret was more open to discussing the situation before they parted company.  
"Yes, that must be why. I'm still a little upset is all. Go back to sleep and I'll finish my project up and then come straight here to sleep," he promised.  
The sleepy Nebari nodded her head and unable to hold it up any longer, let it fall back onto an oversized pillow.  
"Okay," she said with a sleepy sigh. "Don't stay up too late and try not to let that old man bother you. Everything will work out fine... you'll see..." she murmured as she drifted back off into her slumber.  
Berret stood for a few microts gazing at the sleeping girl wondering why she made him feel the way she did. He almost decided to say the hezmana with the whole plan and crawl in next to the small Nebari.   
The thought of leaving her was almost physically painful. Responsibility, thought the Shrike. He had a responsibility not only to Chiana, but also to the rest of this crew that had taken him in. Here was a danger and an opportunity that only he and two relatively untried youngsters were capable of handling. Taking such a foolish risk should have been unlike him, where were the logic and tactics in relying on two children to back him up? And for what? It was only a matter of time before they were all dead anyway. What did it matter if Crichton went sooner then the rest of them? If this is the growth that Shenna had spoken about... the willingness to take extreme risks for another being who for no logical reason should matter to him, then the old man was frelled. With a frown and sigh, Berret realized that was exactly what he was doing, so logically speaking... he was just as frelled as the old Delvian Grandmaster. At his soft exhale of air, Chiana buried her head under a blanket and disappeared from sight. Berret smiled down at the sleeping form, maybe not he thought to himself. Chiana mattered to him and Crichton and the others mattered to her, so in reality he was doing the correct thing. If he could care about the Nebari, it shouldn't be too far of a leap to care for the rest of the crew. Look at Andar and Malika; both of them required little prodding to leap feet first into what practically amounted to a suicide mission for the sake of another shipmate. With so many examples to follow, it shouldn't be too hard to learn... no matter what advise the collar pathways were giving him at the moment. With one last look at the lump under the blankets, Berret silently vowed to succeed and return from this mission... to do the right thing so another person could live.  
"Not even death," he murmured in ritual pledge to the sleeping girl before turning and walking out of his quarters.  
  
Over four arns later, Zhaan's frantic voice came over the comms.   
"Everyone! Wake up and report to Command," the worry in her voice startling everyone awake. "Something bad as happened!" The Delvian broke off communications without explaining further or answering anyone's frantic demands for more information. Crichton wandered on to the Command tier just a few microts before D'argo and Rygel to find Aeryn already there.  
"What's going on, Blue? Why the rude awakening?" the human asked.  
"They're gone, John!" exclaimed the Priestess.  
"Hold on... who's gone?" he replied not understanding the Delvian's statement.  
"Malika and Andar," answered Aeryn. "They left with Berret in his Wraith sometime during the night."  
"You mean they jumped ship?" asked D'argo in his rumbling voice.  
"Ah, good riddance to them. They were just wasting food and valuable resources," said Rygel. "Why the yotz did you bother to wake us for this irrelevant news?"  
Ignoring the Hynerian, Zhaan went on, "Its worse then that. Pilot says they went on some mission against Scorpius."  
"Scorpius?" John exclaimed in alarm, the news banishing the last dregs of sleep from his mind, "Are they insane!"  
"Why didn't Pilot warn us of their plans?" demanded the Luxan.  
In Pilot's defense, Zhaan said, "You know that any of us are free to leave Moya at anytime we wish. Pilot was just according them the same courtesy. Though in this case, I wish that he had informed us."  
"Well, we're frelled now. As soon as Scorpius catches them, they will lead him right back to us. I say we starburst and get the yotz out of here," grumbled Rygel.  
"I'm forced to agree with Rygel. Pilot says they have over a four arn head start. The Wraith is faster then a Prowler in the long haul, we'll never be able to catch up to them even if we knew what direction they were headed in," said Aeryn.  
"Catch who?" asked Chiana as she arrived on the Command tier. "Has anyone seen Berret?" she then added.  
"Your boyfriend took Andar and Malika for a joyride to meet with Scorpy," said Crichton.  
"What? What the frell are you talking about?" replied Chiana.  
After filling the Nebari woman in, Chiana stood dumbfounded. Turning toward Zhaan she said,  
"No, that can't be right. Why would he... they, do something like that?"  
"I'm afraid that's where the story gets worse." Said Zhaan.  
"How can it possibly get worse," spat D'argo.  
"They went to help Crichton," Zhaan said.  
John did a double take at the mention of his name. Holding up a hand to halt the conversation he said,  
"Wait, just wait... how does them going to hang with Scorpy help me?"  
Reluctantly the Delvian revealed the rest of the story that she got from Pilot to the group.  
"They've gone to get the abort codes for the implant," she finished telling them at the end of the explanation.   
"Great, you're tellin' me my fate lies in the hands of a Delvian teenybopper, a homeroom teacher, and an assassin who can't remember which shoe goes on which foot half the time," said Crichton in disbelief. "How messed up is that?"  
Zhaan held up her hands trying to calm the human, "It's not as bad as it sounds, John."  
"No," drawled Rygel, "It's worse."  
Chiana had watched the exchange, her head darting back and forth between the speakers, "So what are we gonna do?" she asked the group.  
"We... are going to starburst the frell out of here as soon as possible before the Peacekeepers show up," said D'argo, as if that was the end of the discussion.  
"Right," agreed Aeryn, "That is the sensible thing to do."  
"Hold it!" shouted Crichton. "You're forgetting... this thing Scorpy put in my head. What are we gonna do about that?" he asked while looking back and forth between his friends. "We are not leaving until we get this thing out of my frelling head!"  
"Right!" said Chiana jumping in. "We can't leave the others out there either. We have ta' do something to help them, we can't just leave."  
"You bet your skinny white ass, we can!" said Rygel  
"What are we going to do, Chiana? We don't know where they are," said Aeryn  
"Okay, then we wait right here until we know for sure what happen to them," said John. "Malika left her Prowler here, so we can use that and Aeryn's Prowler to make long range recons of the sector. That should give us enough warning to starburst out of here if the Peacekeepers show up."  
John looked from face to face to see if everyone agreed with his solution. Aeryn of course supported the recon idea. D'argo nodded that the compromise was acceptable to him and Zhaan indicated that she wanted to wait and give her protégée and young Andar a chance to return. Rygel of course was dead set against it but held his tongue when the Luxan growled low in his throat at him. Chiana was all for it and was ready to jump into one of the Prowlers herself.  
"Okay then, we stick it out as long as we can and cross our fingers that they know what they're doing," said Crichton.  
As the others left command to put the plan in to action, Chiana hung back to have a word with Zhaan in private.  
"Do you think they can pull it off?" she asked the Delvian Pa'u attentively.  
"I hope so, my dear. For John and all our sakes," she answered.  
" 'Ret will do it," Chiana said trying to convince herself. "Yeah... if anyone can get them in and out it should be an assassin... right?"  
"I'm praying to the Goddess that they all come back, Chiana," reassured the Delvian.  
The Nebari girl looked hurt for a few microts. "I can believe Berret didn't tell me what he was planning. That he left me out of everything," she said.  
"He had good cause, dear. He was able to convince Pilot that his reasons were sound and Pilot is not a fool. He felt that his plan stood a better chance of succeeding with unknown faces with him and had any of us accompanied him we would have been caught. If he had told us, Crichton and D'argo surely would have insisted on going." The Delvian woman folded her arms across her chest. "I am concerned about Andar and Malika," she added.  
Chiana looked at her and said, "Had you known, you wouldn't have let them go... and you would have insisted on going to help Crichton yourself."  
Zhaan frowned because the young Nebari girl had read her too well.  
"That point is moot now that they have gone," She said. "At any rate, Chiana, I suspect that Berret will keep many things to himself in the future. In this case I believe he did what he thought would best protect us. It's his way of trying to fit in with the rest of Moya's crew. Try and not be too angry with him." Despite the advice the Pa'u found she herself was angry at the Shrike for not confiding in her. Chiana nodded her head and left Zhaan alone in Command as she went to grab something quick to eat and ready herself for the long coming wait.  
"Holy Mother, protect and guide my lost children back to me," Zhaan murmured to herself in prayer. 


	8. Chapter 7

In full Shrike armor, Berret dropped through the Wraith's forward troop deployment hatch just as the inner hanger door cycled open. Scorpius entered the bay with an escort of armed Peacekeeper troopers as Berret began to move forward to meet them.  
"Ah, I'm so glad you could make it, Berret. I trust there wasn't any trouble," said the half Scarren slickly.  
"Nothing worth mentioning," replied the Shrike in a dispassionate tone.  
"Very good," said Scorpius. Turning to the troop commander he continued, "Send a detachment of men to search our visitor's ship for unwanted company."  
The Commander waved several men forward to carry out the orders. As the men advanced toward the Shrike and his ship, the craft lowered itself on its forward landing gear and the missile rack dropped into firing position with a heavy thud. The forward gun ports whirled and a line of test-level pulse bolts chewed into the deck between Berret and the advancing men, not causing any real damage but making a lot of noise in the tight confines of the landing bay. The troopers scattered for cover but neither Scorpius or the Shrike budged from their places.  
"What the frell was that?" exclaimed one trooper from behind cover.   
"That was the first and only warning shot at test level," explained Berret. "The guns have now reset themselves to full power and the missiles are now armed. Any attempt to enter my Wraith will be met with force."  
"It's the L-49 series with the Artificial Intelligence Unit, most impressive. Though I don't recognize the manner of pulse guns it's armed with," said Scorpius.  
"You should also be aware that any attempt to scan or deactivate the AI by electronic means will result in the guns and missiles firing on a preprogrammed order. I don't believe your Command Carrier will survive the detonation of all its armament inside the hanger bay," Berret warned, ignoring the half Scarren's enquiry about the craft's armament.  
Scorpius gave the man his best disarming smile as he moved over to meet him.  
"Come now, Berret. We are all friends here, are we not?" Berret didn't answer as the Peacekeeper commander draped one arm over the Shrike's shoulder. "We are working together now for the same goal," he added. Berret stepped away from the half-Scarren's arm with a look of undisguised distaste.  
"If you think I am going to let you anywhere near my ship, you are gravely mistaken. I don't trust you and we are not friends. We have a mutually beneficial business agreement and that is all," said the Shrike.  
Scorpius made a show of sighing as if heavily wounded at the other's distrust.  
"Very well, though I am very sorry you feel that way. Our partnership could have been very profitable for both of us," he replied. He turned back to the commander of the troop detachment. "Seal this bay. No one is to approach or scan our friend's craft," Scorpius ordered. Returning his attention back to Berret he asked, "I trust that meets with your approval?"   
"That is acceptable," answered the ex-assassin.  
"Good, then lets us get down to business then, shall we?"  
Berret nodded as Scorpius held out a hand to lead the way out of the hanger bay.  
  
As the bay doors dropped closed behind them, Berret turned to Scorpius and asked,  
"Where is Val'Cirrus?"  
Scorpius gave the Shrike a nasty unpleasant smile that showed his unpleasantly pointed Scarren teeth.   
"You needn't fear the Master Shrike. She is... how shall I say... 'detained'," he replied.  
Berret frowned at the half Scarren. "You would do well not to underestimate her."  
An annoyed look slipped over Scorpius' face at the Shrike's warning for a split microt, but a calm facade quickly replaced it.  
"I assure you, where she is... she cannot get out unless I wish it," he promised.  
They continued walking until they came to Scorpius' private personal chambers. The armed escort remained stationed outside while Berret accompanied Scorpius and his first lieutenant into the chamber. The room was huge and plush. As Berret looked around he thought it a strange decor for someone as venomous as the Scarren half-breed. His gaze stopped as he scanned the room when it fell upon a Delvian servant. The man was old and bent. His blue hands shook as he straightened up some furniture and fixtures about the room. The man wore a Delvian head-wrap loosely draped over his head and shoulders. Berret almost choked when he finally recognized the old man as Shenna.  
Scorpius turned his attention to the old man and said, "Leave us."  
The Delvian made what looked like a painful bow and picked up his walking stick. Berret knew that the stick actually held a deadly secret in the form of a Bat'Rellite blade. Just as his own wrist blades, the weapon could shear through most inferior metals except for Qualta. The Grandmaster's face was altered somehow to seem more wrinkled then before, if Berret had not recognized the walking staff; he might not have given the man a second look. Berret hoped that Scorpius had remembered to remove Val'Cirrus' boots as they held similar blades as his and Shenna's inside them. If he hadn't, then she probably had already kicked her way free of wherever he had her imprisoned. Shenna slowly hobbled his way passed the group of men. He nodded his head in respect to Scorpius as he passed by but gave no indication that he had noticed anyone else in the room. The lieutenant also left the room with Shenna, the younger Sebacean officer leading the old man out. Berret must have given something away; possibly he had not masked the look of surprise on his face at the sight of the Grandmaster as well as he thought he had. Scorpius caught it and explained,  
"I much rather prefer Delvian caretakers for my personal quarters. Being floral based creatures they don't carry the 'scent' that humanoid species do."   
Berret nodded his head as if that explained what he had been thinking about when he first seen the old Delvian. Scorpius indicated that Berret should take a seat as he himself settled down on a plush chair. Berret ignored the offer and instead made a show of wandering around and idly examining items in the room as if he had all the time in the universe. The half Scarren smirked at the Shrike's ploy.  
"Now, where is Crichton?" Scorpius asked, finally getting down to business.  
Berret picked up a clear vase that appeared to have something's internal organs floating around in it and inspected it for a few microts before answering.  
"He is close-by."  
Scorpius sat up straight with a hiss, "That was not our deal! You were to deliver John Crichton to me. Don't play with me Shrike or you will live to regret it... deeply!" he growled.  
Berret paused for a microt... and then crushed the vase in his hand. Before the pieces had all hit the floor he was across the room and a set of Bat'Rellite blades were micro-hentas from the hooked tip of Scorpius' nose.  
"Don't threaten me, half-breed," the Shrike said in his own growling voice, " ...or we will find out which of us is the more deadly creature."   
  
Scorpius didn't appear very impressed, but still, he didn't push the man. Instead he coolly said,  
"Put away your claws, assassin... and tell me why Crichton is not here before me now."  
Berret eased away from the Peacekeeper leader and his blades slowly slide back inside his gauntlet. The metal making a slick hiss as they did.   
"You want Crichton undamaged, these things take time. If I push too hard for Crichton to leave the ship with me, then he and others will become suspicious. As you can imagine, being an Enforcer for the Syndicate does not lend well to being trusted with this crew. I need a reason for him to accompany me away from the Leviathan... that is unless of course you don't mind me bashing his skull in to get his cooperation?" said the Shrike offhandedly.  
"No, that would not be acceptable," said Scorpius. "The information I want is much too vital to risk damaging Crichton's brain. Tell me, have you thought of a reason to lure him away yet?"  
Berret gave the creature an evil grin. "Yes, but I will need your help with providing the bait."  
"I see... and what will that entail?"  
"The others think I'm on a recon patrol searching for a commerce planet where we can take on food items. What if I found such a planet that had not only food items but also a mysterious vender who had information and Star-charts concerning wormholes? Would that not be enough incentive for Crichton to investigate?" explained Berret.  
Scorpius revealed a toothy grin, "I do believe it would spark young John's interest."  
"Good," said the Shrike. "What I need from you then is enough odds and end data about wormholes to wet his appetite... and some food stores to make to make the story plausible."  
  
Andar looked out the Wraith's black tinted cockpit screen. "They're gone now," he told the Delvian behind him. Malika turned from the sensor board she had been studying.  
"They haven't scanned us. The Shrike's bluff must have worked," she reported.   
"What bluff?" ask the Sebacean.  
"The one about the ship being bobby trapped."  
"Ummm..." Andar started and then pointed to a lit control panel, "It wasn't a bluff."  
Malika looked shocked for a microt. "You mean that maniac would have blown up the Command Carrier and killed us all?" she exclaimed.  
"Would you preferred being captured by the Peacekeepers and being tortured to death?" asked Andar.  
The Delvian girl thought for a moment and then said, "Good point." She turned back to her panel and said,  
"Wraith, report mission status."  
The machine voice responded instantly to her command.  
"Online, Specialist Malika Phatan. We are secured in the Command Carrier hanger bay. No attempts have been made to violate security perimeters. No activate or passive scans detected. Stealth systems operational and functioning at 100%. Weapons systems armed and on standby. Specialists Malika Phatan and Andar's life scans undetectable beyond stealth system perimeter. Engines off and not at idle, engine power core on standby and ready to power up. Life support at..."  
Malika cut the AI's report off as Andar asked, "Why does this machine refer to you as Specialist Malika Phatan and to me as just Specialist Andar? How come it give you a full name along with a title while I'm just Andar?"  
The Delvian smiled impishly, "Maybe it got tired of having to say 'Specialist Andar of the House of Murdough' all the time." Turning back to her board she inquired, "Wraith, status on homing beacon?"   
"Beacon not activated."  
Andar looked down at the seated Delvian. "That means Berret hasn't found where Scorpius has the codes stored yet," he said in thought. "Are you sure you'll be able to break into whatever place they have them secured at?"  
Malika smiled and then patted the hand size case on the thin belt around her waist.  
"I'm willing to bet I'm as good as that Nebari thief back on Moya. I know my way around Peacekeeper security. You don't spend as many cycles as I have as a PK servant without learning a few ways to get around a locked door." Andar nodded nervously and the Delvian girl added mischievously, "The question should be whether you're a good enough actor to get me to the door so I can do my job."  
The Sebacean man lifted an eyebrow in mock insult.   
"My dear Delvian Pa'u, " he began in a deeply cultured voice. "I'll have you know that I have studied the greatest literature classics of my culture. I am a student and teacher of the arts. It will be a cold day in hezmana when I cannot browbeat and outclass a poorly educated PK grunt. I will have them believing that they are in the presence of the greatest Peacekeeper general to strode the decks of this antiquated bucket of rusted bolts." He ended with a sly smile and a low bow to the woman.  
Malika smirked with him and raised her eyebrow in turn at his antics.  
"Besides..." he added, "They'll be too busy looking at you to notice me anyway."  
Malika frowned and stuck out her tongue good-naturedly at the man. "Maybe we should have brought the Dominar instead of you," she teased.  
"With you dressed like that?" Andar said with a shake of his head, "He wouldn't have been as much a gentleman as I am."  
  
"This is my private sanctum," announced Scorpius as he led Berret through the security door. "This is where I keep all the important research and data on wormholes. Myself, and no one else can access this computer data bank. It has several levels of security with the wormhole technology being stored at the highest level. I designed the entire system myself," said Scorpius proudly.  
Berret rolled his eyes as if bored and said, "I care little for your wormholes or your toys. Just give me something that Crichton will believe and let's be done with it."  
Scorpius looked slightly disappointed that the Shrike didn't find the same pleasure in the subject of wormholes or his brilliantly designed private computer bank. "Give me a micron to find just the right information," he finally said. "I don't want to hand over anything too classified for your ruse."  
Berret waved a causal hand in dismissal as he began to inspect the room. "You spend all your time in this dreary little alcove?" he asked.  
"This is the most secured room on the carrier. All my import work is stored here," replied the half-breed.  
Berret made a sound of disgust, "No wonder you're pale, and of a nasty disposition," he commented bluntly. The Shrike gave an involuntary shiver. "Arckatius kept us in small dark rooms such as this when he didn't send us out to kill. One day soon I will pay him back for that imprisonment."  
Scorpius grinned, as he perceived what was a weakness in the man he could make use of.   
"And you shall, my friend," he said. "With the information I give you when you hand over Crichton, you will be able to make Arckatius suffer for as long as you like."  
As if lost in a dream, Berret answered, "I'd like that."  
The Shrike shook his head in the next instant as if to clear it from the visions of the Scarren crime lord's torture. "We'll see if you keep your side of the bargain, Scorpius," Berret told him after seeming to notice his smile. He began to pick up objects at random as Scorpius finished printing out a set of star maps to use as bait. The Peacekeeper commander walked over to Berret as he started to carelessly play with an instrument that's use he had no idea was. Scorpius scowled as he removed the device from the Shrike's possession and placed it back on the self where it had came from. While his back was turned, Berret pulled a small homing device out from behind his belt buckle. The Shrike activated the device before placing it under the edge of a nearby metal work table, the magnetic backing securing it out of sight.  
Scorpius turned back to the man waving the star map printouts.  
"These will wet Crichton's curiosity. Just enough information to be tempting."  
"Good enough," said Berret sounding bored while taking the carts without looking at them and folding them up to place inside a pocket.  
"We will arrive at a commerce planet in a few arns. I'll see to it that you are able to procure whatever supplies you wish from there. It wouldn't do to show back up at the Leviathan with Peacekeeper rations now would it?" Scorpius said.  
"No, it would not. I had not considered that," admitted the Shrike.  
Scorpius smiled to himself. The man was not as smart as he thought he was. He will be easy to use he thought to himself.  
"No matter, Berret. I will take care of the small details. You just worry about bringing me Crichton," he said with a sly smile. "Speaking of details, have you considered what will happen when the others aboard the Leviathan discover you have absconded with John? You didn't think they would just let you go, did you?"  
Berret looked dumbfounded for a few microts. "I had not thought that far ahead either. I suppose you are correct, they will not let us go easily."  
The Shrike appeared to be thinking hard about the situation, "It would not be possible to eliminate them before hand. If I killed them all out right, John will not accompany me willingly. Perhaps we need to postpone our arrangement until we find a solution to this new problem?"  
Scorpius silently jumped for joy, the man was casually talking of murdering his shipmates as if he were discussing what to have for evening meal. Here was a most useful tool indeed.   
"I already have a solution," he said holding up a hand to halt the Shrike from further considering waiting on completing the deal. "Since it is agreed that the others are unimportant in our arrangement, I will supply you with a explosive device with a delayed timer. It will be undetectable to the Leviathan's internal scans. You need simply set it and after you're out of range the Leviathan and all aboard her will be destroyed. No messy lose ends, no one to hunt you down afterwards. We will be rid of them all, every last one."  
"Not Chiana," demanded Berret. "You said you would include her in our deal. Safe passage for her also."  
"Of course, you may have your little Nebari tralk. Though I don't see why you'd want to bother with her. With the reward I'll give you and after you have killed Arckatius, you'll be able to buy a hundred Nebari tramps just like her."  
"She's mine... I'm not finished with her yet," said the Shrike dangerously.  
Not only stupid, but he also lets other parts of his body do the thinking for him, thought the half-Scarren. Lust can be such a useful tool to use against someone.  
"As you wish, that is... how shall we say, your business," replied Scorpius with an affirming nod.  
Berret nodded as if satisfied with the deal, making sure to show a slight contemptuous smirk on his face.  
He was rewarded as the sly look in Scorpius eyes deepened. It was a case of who was leading whom around by the nose. Berret hoped he'd come off as a simpleton only interested in revenge, money, and his own pleasure. 


	9. Chapter 8

Andar studied the schematics laid out before him. They showed the basic default layout of a standard Peacekeeper Command Carrier. He hoped to the Goddess that this ship they were aboard was indeed close to a basic carrier as the maintenance corridor that Malika said ran along the starboard bulkhead was shown plainly there on the plans just behind the hanger bay bulkhead. Undercover of the Wraith's stealth systems they were to cut an access into the hopefully deserted corridor and then use the tunnels to travel through the carrier until they were close to were Scorpius kept the codes they needed. That is, if Berret could locate them. The AI aboard the Wraith was to mask any interruption in the carrier's alarm system while they cut into the bulkhead, once they left the vicinity of the hanger bay and the coverage of the stealth system they were on their own to avoid detection. Andar took several deep breaths to relax himself. The waiting had turned out to be the hardest part of the mission. Glancing back over his shoulder at the Delvian girl he saw her meditating. Eyes closed, the woman muttered a low chant to herself. He'd wished he were able to do the same when the panel next to Malika lit up and a tone softly chimed. The Delvian's eyes snapped open and she immediately went to work reading the data from the board.  
"The Shrike has keyed the beacon," she said unnecessarily. "Reading position now."   
Andar waited anxiously as the woman worked. After a microt the Delvian uttered a small curse.  
"What's wrong?" asked the Sebacean teacher.  
"Its as I feared. Scorpius is keeping the codes in the most secured section of the carrier. We'll be able to travel the maintenance tunnels most of the way, but there is at least one level we will have to cross out in the open," she explained while tracing the route they would have to take on the carrier layouts with one slim blue fingertip.   
Andar frowned down at the open ground they would have to cover on shear nerve.  
"Well, Berret said we could call it off at any point should we think it too dangerous," he said aloud.  
Malika nodded remembering the contingency plan. Should the plan be called off for any reason they were to wait inside the Wraith for Berret's return. Should the Shrike not return within a reasonable time or should they terminated the plan while in route to the location and/or met resistance, they were to fight their way back to the ship and command the AI to initiate a programmed escape vector. On command, the Wraith would blow open the carrier's hanger bay doors using a single missile. Backing it's way free of the bay; the ship would then next empty it's entire armament of missiles inside the bay causing a chain reaction explosion that would destroy the carrier and anyone left aboard it, along with the codes and hopefully the broadcast unit that would send the codes.  
It had surprised the Delvian that the assassin would sacrifice himself for someone else. While she still didn't trust the Shrike it was beginning to appear there was more to him then she first believed.  
  
Malika shook her head. "If the Shrike's willing to risk himself, I'll be damned to hezmana if I'm going to back out," she said stubbornly. "I'm still game for it if you are?" she told Andar in challenge.  
Andar shook his head right along with her. "Well, someone with mature common sense has to be along to watch over you two crazy people. It might as well be me." The Delvian girl gave him a devilish smile as he said, "Let's go and do this."  
The Sebacean man straightened and button up his commander's uniform while Malika scooped up their equipment bag. As soon as it landed the Wraith's stealth system shields extended to cover the bay from wall to wall and they had remained in that condition. The pair dropped out the rear troop deployment hatch and using the missile rack and one rear-landing skid to hide themselves from view, began their work.  
Malika placed the sensors that would enable the Wraith's AI to disrupt and take over the carrier's alarm systems in that area so the bulkhead could be safely cut without setting off any warning alarms. At her signal, Andar lifted the somewhat bulky plasma torch and began cutting. One benefit of growing up on a backwater Sebacean colony was the man was use to doing hard manual labor. He quickly cut through the metal wall while Malika stood guard with his pulse rifle. When he was finished, Andar yanked on the magnetic handle that he had attached to that side of the freed plate and pulled it out of the wall. He pulled his pulse pistol from its holster and ducked his head and shoulder inside to see if anyone had observed the operation from the other side of the bulkhead, the area was clear. The man moved through the opening and signaled for Malika to pass the bag through to him. After she did, she repositioned the magnetic handle on the opposite side of the plate and stepped through the opening herself. Together they lifted the piece of bulkhead back into place. Andar held the piece up while Malika used strips of magnetic hull patches to anchor the hunk of metal in place, to the casual glance the wall would look whole on this side with the dim corridor light. By switching off the current in the patches, all they would then have to do is kick the plate back out of the wall to re-enter the hanger bay.  
They hid the equipment they no longer needed. Malika gave Andar the pulse rifle back and he slung it off one shoulder as she started to lead the way through the dimly lit tunnel.  
"Blast it! I feel naked without a weapon," commented the girl, "I wish I at least had my knife."  
Andar paused for a microt and dug through one pocket.  
"Here," He said a few more microts later as he handed her a small object.  
"What the hezmana is this?" she asked as she inspected the item.  
"It's a knife," said the man as if it should have been obvious to anyone who wasn't blind.  
Malika found the small cut out designed to help a finger nail unfold the blade. The blade swung open and the girl stared at the finger of metal that was literally barely as long as her smallest finger.  
"You call this a knife? What the yotz do you expect me to do with this? Clean my nails?" she asked in amazement.  
"Well beggars can't be choosers. If you don't want it..." he said reaching for the knife.  
"Never mind, it's better then nothing," she replied while pulling the small blade out of his reach.  
She folded the blade back into the handle while muttering sarcastically, "At least I'm be able to slit my own throat if we're caught by the Peacekeepers, it'll save them the trouble."  
She slid the knife under a leather strap and pulled Andar along behind as she started again on their journey deeper into the tunnel. "Keep up and try not to trip over anything," she said.  
  
Scorpius gave Berret the run of the carrier for the next few arns... more or less, as he was accompanied by an armed guard/escort at all times. He was allowed to wander the unrestricted areas while the Command Carrier traveled to the commerce planet where they would get supplies. In their conversation, Scorpius had mentioned that Val'Cirrus was being held in a special cell at the opposite end of the ship from his private security room, which made sense to the Shrike as one wouldn't want to keep prisoners too close to sensitive areas of a war-ship. Other then removing his pulse pistol the Peacekeepers had not attempted to disarm him further, leaving him his gauntlets and other hidden weapons. Knowing that Scorpius wouldn't rely on a single PK grunt to be able to stop an armed Shrike, Berret knew he had to be under some other type of surveillance also, most likely a camera system was following his every move and keeping the half-Scarren informed of his activities and whereabouts. Wanting to keep Scorpius attention as far away as possible from his workroom so Malika and Andar would have their change to break into it, Berret chose to visit the Master Shrike at her cell; playing the part of the gloating adversary which is what Scorpius might have expected him to do.  
The guarded guided him to the cellblock and Berret's hands began to sweat at the thought of seeing the female Shrike again. To Berret's surprise the cell was actually in the floor in this section of the huge Command Carrier. The ceiling of the cell was made of a clear substance allowing the occasional patrol of guards to look down inside the cell as they passed. The ceiling was at least three times the height of the woman trapped inside. Looking down into the room, Berret saw that the Shrike had been stripped of her armor and the boots with the deadly Bat'Rellite blades. The walls surrounding her had a dull yellow gleam to them that he realized had to be raw Qualta. That explained how the PK's got around the alloy tipped claws Val'Cirrus had. It surprised Berret that Scorpius had not simply ordered them ripped out. The fact that he was leaving the assassin locked-up but 'intact', told him the PK scientist had no attention of letting him go free even if he held up his end of the bargain. As soon as he would have handed Crichton over, Scorpius would have turned Val'Cirrus loose on him again.  
  
Val'Cirrus glared up hatefully at Berret and let out an angry hiss. Dressed in a simple prisoner's uniform the female reptile looked almost harmless, except Berret knew that she was still very, very dangerous.  
"You think you have won?" asked the Master Shrike venomously.  
"I'm not the one in the cell," said Berret with a grin as he squatted down closer to the see-through floor.   
Val'Cirrus raked a set of claws off one wall, sparks flared from the contact. "Scorpius betrayed the pact made with Arckatius," she rasped angrily. "After I escape from here and kill you, I'll come back and kill the frelling traitor."  
Berret let out a laugh; "I don't believe Scorpius is the kind to leave that to chance. The only way you will ever leave this cell again is when they flush your dead body into space. I made a better deal with the half-breed. I win... you lose," he said tapping a finger on the clear floor for emphasis.  
Val'Cirrus threw her head back and shrieked out a laugh of her own.  
"Stupid, little Shrike," she spat. "Scorpius will betray you as quickly as he did the Syndicate." She looked at him and a sly toothy grin broke out across her scaly features. "Maybe if I wait long enough, Scorpius will throw you in here with me. Then I'll teach you your final lesson. We'll spend lots of time together before you die."   
She leaned up against the wall as if having a causal chat with an old friend.  
"Afterwards when I escape and take care of that vork, Scorpius, then I'll find your tralk Nebari bitch. Take her back to the Scarren Homeworld with me and save for special occasions. I'll only eat her a little bit at a time," Val'Cirrus hissed evilly.   
Berret rose to his feet looking visibly shaken at Val'Cirrus' threats, a microt later his face twisted into a hateful glare.  
"That will never happen, you depraved bitch!" cursed Berret. Shaking his fist at the assassin he said,  
"I'll have Scorpius giving me your head on a Berillium serving tray part of the deal in exchange for Crichton. Enjoy your last days!"  
Berret turned and stalked away from the cell so abruptly he almost knocked over the guard. Behind him, he could hear the hissing laughter of the Master Shrike in her cell. Berret hoped he put on a believable show; the uneasiness he felt wasn't hard to fake seeing the Master Shrike set him on edge to begin with.  
That can be dealt with later, thought the ex-assassin. Right now it was time to create a much bigger diversion. Doing his best to still sound angry, he abruptly turned on his escort.  
"Take me to the off-duty lounge," he ordered the trooper.  
  
"Ouch!" said Andar aloud as he bumped his head against a low hanging pipe in the dim corridor.  
"I told you to be careful," snapped Malika to the man following behind her.  
"You told me not to trip over anything. I didn't... I banged my head," he told her.  
"Well, don't do that either. Now be quiet... we're getting close to the access port."  
The pair had traveled unobserved the entire length of the service tunnel and had made good time. A few more microns and the Delvian girl brought them to a stop beside an entrance access-way.  
"Here it is," she announced in a whisper. She dug through her small pouch and produced a medical device used to listen to a patient's heartbeat and other internal sounds. She placed the earpiece to one blue ear and the sensor end against the doorway. She signaled for the Sebacean to remain silent as she listen for sounds on the other side of the hatch.  
A few microts latter she whispered, "I don't hear anything."  
Andar nodded and check that his uniform was settled correctly. "Now's as good a time as any," he said as the girl stepped back out of his way.  
Andar spun the lock open and pulled the door slowly inward. He stuck his head out for a peek, half expecting someone to be waiting there on the other side to put a pulse bolt in it as soon as he did. When the bolt never came he stepped outside and looked in both directions.  
"The coast is clear," he said and in a flash the Delvian girl was out in the main corridor by his side. They pulled the hatchway shut and re-secured it.   
"Which way now?" asked Malika.  
Andar looked up from the small tracking device to see that the usually confident girl was nervous with being out in the open.  
"That way," he said as he pointed to their right. He placed the device in a pocket and taking the girl's left arm looped it through his right as if they were two lovers out for a stroll.   
"Relax," he said in a low voice. "Its like Berret said... as long as we pretend nothing is wrong and that we belong here, nobody will give us a second glance. We're just another PK Officer and a pleasure slave looking for someplace private to go."  
The Delvian girl swallowed hard and nodded slightly as she let the man lead her farther away from the relative safety of the maintenance tunnels.  
They had gone only a little ways when they ran into their first test. A pair of off-duty grunts turned a corner ahead of them and came in their direction. Talking and joking loudly, it was obvious that the men had been drinking. Malika's arm went tense in Andar's as she saw the troopers heading their way, so Andar improvised on the fly to hide her nervousness. Before she could react he shoved the panicking girl into a corner made up of a bulkhead and a hull brace. He pushed himself up close to her and cut off her protests,  
"Put your arms around me and look only at me... not matter what, your eyes stay solely on me," he ordered.  
The girl nodded and wrapped her arms around the Sebacean man and buried her cheek against his shoulder.  
"Not so tight!" gasped Andar and she forced her grip to loosen on the man.  
Andar began to loudly whisper sweet nothings into the girl's ear as the pair of Peacekeepers approached the couple. Neither could see the two men but it was obvious they had stopped somewhere behind them as one said to his partner,  
"Didya see that looker?"  
"Aye, that was one fine tralk," slurred the other drunkenly.  
"I've never seen that one before in the pool, I wonder when she got here?" the first one said.   
One of them tapped Andar on the shoulder to get his attention,   
"Say, mate? Doya' mind if we have a crack at her when you're finished?" the first voice asked.  
Andar made a show of stiffening at the contacted. Prying Malika's arms from around him he slowly turned to glare at the two grunts. "Yes, I do mind very much," he said in a highly cultured voice that dripped venom.  
Both men's jaws dropped as they read the rank insignia on Andar's collar.  
"We beg your pardon, Flight Commander!" the first man stammered. "We didn't realize who you were.  
We thought when we seen... that you were..." he started but couldn't decide how to finish without insulting the superior officer.  
Andar lifted a single eyebrow and let the men stew for a few microts. He finally waved the pair off saying,  
"I don't give a royal frell what you two nurfers thought. Just get out of my sight before I put you both on report."  
"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" both men stammered as they moved to get out of Andar's vicinity.  
Andar made as if to ignore the men as if they were not worth his notice. He held out a hand to Malika.   
"Come, my dear. We shall find more suitable surrounding to continue our conversation," he said.  
Malika joined him and fell in close to his side, her back to the departing men. Andar casually laid one hand over her swaying hip as they walked away.  
When they thought the pair was out of earshot the first man turned to the second.  
"That explains why we never saw that one before... she's been kept up in officer's country."  
"Damn frelling officers! They always keep the best ones for themselves," complained the second man in answer.  
  
Berret's escort led him to a noisy smoke filled lounge where a large number of the Peacekeepers off-duty congregated to relax, that is if you considered the chaos in the lounge relaxing. Here and there troopers drank, gambled, talked and joked loudly and in some instants fought. The Shrike pushed his way to the bar, some of the soldiers drunkenly ignored him while some of the more sober ones stepped out his way after realizing what the cloak and armor meant, the stares he received ranged from the uneasy to the outright hateful. Letting him do the work of forcing a way through the crowd, his escort followed behind Berret. The Shrike made it to the metal counter that served as a bar and had to reach over a seated Peacekeeper grunt with a bandage crossing over one eye to attract the attention of the barkeep. The gunmetal colored gauntlet on Berret's arm caught the low light over the bar and the glyphs and icons imbedded in the metal shone like Delvian Fire Runes. The seated man glanced up with his one good eye and then shot out of his seat as if somebody had shocked him with a stun baton. The good eye grew large with mindless fear and the man started backing away from Berret, all the while making a wordless animal-like cry. He backpedaled away from the Shrike until he tripped over some unseen object and toppled over a table. Before the occupants of the table could voice a protest, the man jumped back to his feet and continued his hasty backwards retreat, all the while keeping Berret in sight and sounding his wordless never-ending cry. Almost tripping and knocking several other patrons out of his way the man made it to the doorway and ran down the corridor away from the lounge, followed by the mocking laughter and hoots of the other Peacekeepers witnessing the clumsy display.  
Berret looked as his guard and asked, "What the frell was that about?"  
The PK grunt snickered, "That's old Asmanz. He had a run in with that female Shrike. It seems he got resleked up and decide to have some sport with the old girl one night when she was in here. She didn't take too kindly to it and removed his eye for him with one of those claws. Ate it right in front of him. I guess she was planning on eating the rest him but Scorpius put a stop to that just as she was describing how she planned to serve him up."  
Berret forced himself to suppress a shutter at the thought of the Master Shrike but the guard seemed to catch it.  
"I guess Asmanz had enough of you Shrike's for one lifetime... I bet he was thinking you were going to eat him too," he finished with a sadistic grin. Berret took the now vacant seat before answering the man.   
"I don't eat my prey," he told the Peacekeeper as he raised up one armored arm and willed a single blade to slowly appear from the gauntlet and spear a nearby salt-covered snack food that John said reminded him of a big pretzel, whatever that was. He lifted the pulse-pistol size bake-good so it was eyelevel with himself and the guard. "I personally prefer to take 'other' trophies." The blade snapped back into it housing, startling the guard with its speed. In a blur, the blades on the Shrike's other arm shot out and slashed upward. The metallic snap of them closing again cut through the noisy room. The hunk of food seemed to hover by itself for a microt and then fell in two pieces straight into Berret's waiting hand. The Sebacean swallowed visibly as he realized that the Shrike performed the act without taking his eyes from his own. He then realized how quickly and easily he could die if the assassin wished for him too. With a smile, Berret offered the guard one half of the hunk of salted bake-good.  
"I understand... sir," the escort said while refusing the Shrike's offer. Berret shrugged then tore off a hunk of the snack food and began to eat. The barkeep had wandered over and caught the last part of the show and Berret thought he was about to comment about there being a 'no weapons' rule in the lounge but the armed guard waved the protest off saying that the Shrike was a guest of Scorpius'. Berret turned his attention to the man standing behind the bar.  
"Reslek... strong and now!" he demanded in a louder then necessary voice.  
  
Berret hated Raslek, he had no idea how Chiana and the others could drink the stuff. Still it was one of the more potent drinks and something that the microbes could easily handled and filter from his system, something to do with it being grain based, unlike that wine Chiana and he had gotten drunk on a while ago. The ex-assassin noticed one of Scorpius' toadies watching him from one corner trying to be discreet so he forced himself to have several more of the dreadful drinks. At least the salty snack foods helped kill the taste he thought to himself. Berret casually surveyed the room every few microns and soon he found what he needed for the next phase of the plan. At a nearby table was one of the biggest Sebacean men he'd ever seen. By the scars on the man's face he had to have been a fearsome fighter... or at least he was by the stories he was sharing with his circle of friends. The big man eventually got up from the table to buy a around of drinks for his comrades and came over to the bar to stand close by where Berret was sitting.  
Time to put part two into effect silently thought the Shrike, time for another distraction.  
"Did I hear you say you were at the battle of Galron Seven?" asked the Shrike in a slightly slurred tone to the Peacekeeper who was waiting for his drinks.  
"Yes, my entire regiment fought there," replied the trooper. "It was a hezmana of a fight too. Those Tresh Regulars where dug in but we went in and kick some major eema," he continued proudly.  
Berret let out a choked laugh as he spat out half his drink and then pounded his hand on the bar top as if he found the Sebacean's statement to be the funniest thing he'd ever heard.  
"Why are you laughing for?" asked the soldier confused.  
Berret let his laughter die off into snickers before answering the man.  
"The Tresh had a Shrike advisor, and he reported back that the Peacekeepers who landed on Galron couldn't find their eemas with both hands in broad daylight. Not only where they inept, but when it came to hand to hand fighting the Peacekeepers turned tail and ran away..." Berret let out another deep belly laugh and slapped the man on the shoulder.  
"That is an outright lie!" bellowed the big man.  
"The advisor went on to compare the Peacekeepers screaming as to that of teenage Hynerian females at a Luxan horror vid-show."   
Berret looked oblivious to the man's anger or the crowd they were drawing as he went on.  
"Come now, big man... show us all the Hynerian war-cry you made famous on Galron Seven. I'll wager that you can reach a pitch that will break glass," Berret said holding up his empty Raslek tumbler.  
The Peacekeeper smashed the glass from Berret's hand and stood glaring and panting hard in front of him. He glanced at the armed escort who looked at a loss as to what to do. Turning back to the Shrike he said,  
"If you were not a guest of Scorpius' Shrike coward, I would..." the Peacekeeper started to growl out.  
"Do what?" snapped Berret back at the man, his good mood seemingly gone and replaced with his own anger. "Teach me a lesson? Show me what a brave warrior you are? Peacekeeper dolt."  
Berret gave him a smile that didn't touch his ice blue eyes, "Without your pulse guns, you Peacekeepers are nothing but spineless cowards."  
The man looked like he was about to lose his mind when one of his companions spoke up from their table.  
"Big talk from a man with knives strapped to his forearms. Sergeant Pikes is unarmed," said the female PK.  
"A very good point," said Scorpius' lieutenant as he pushed his way to the front of the group.  
The Peacekeepers, including Berret's new large 'friend', came to attention as the man appeared in their mist. "At ease," he said to those around him. "The 'no-rank' rule inside this establishment applies here to everyone," he said to the crowd. Turning back to Berret, he added, "That includes you also, Shrike. That is unless you were planning on hiding under Scorpius' protection. In that case, please go on belittling the sergeant here and he will take it like a good Peacekeeper should, and follow his orders not to harm you." He looked around at the huge man and the crowd to see if they were listening closely before going back to the Shrike. "Or... you can follow the same rules as everyone else and back your hypothesis up while allowing the good sergeant a chance to defend his and his unit's honor."  
The lieutenant folded his hands in front of him and waited for Berret's reply with a smile. The crowd was silent as they waited for him to respond and Berret scanned the surrounding faces, many of them angry.  
"I don't need that Scarren half-breed's protection," he said with an evil grin. "Let's see what you got?" he told the big man.  
The crowd cheered as the huge sergeant took off his uniform shirt, the man was much bigger then Berret originally thought. The lieutenant had decreed that the contest would be empty-hand and would continue until either only one man was standing or the other surrendered. Berret walked back over to the bar and held his forearms over the counter-top. With a sharp click both gauntlets released their hold on his forearms and fell to the bar's shiny surface. Before the watching patron's eyes the two pieces resealed themselves into single units again without the Shrike touching them.   
Berret turned to those closest and said mischievously, "Don't touch! They bite."  
They seemed inclined to believe him as while he stripped the rest of his armor off they cleared a circle around that section of the bar where the gauntlets lay.  
The rest of the crowd cleared the tables and chairs from a large space in the middle of the lounge and the sergeant was already standing in the middle waiting for Berret. His escort caught his attention as he finished removing armor plates.  
"Sir, the sergeant has never been beaten in unarmed matches. He's one of the fleets highest ranking champions," he told the Shrike.  
"There's a first time for everything," replied Berret.  
"No disrespect, 'sir'... but I hope the sergeant kicks your eema from one end of the carrier to the other. There was no call for what you said to him."  
"There's a first time for that too," said Berret with a reckless grin as he stepped into the center of the makeshift ring to face the big man. 


	10. Chapter 9

Malika and Andar had just turned back into the main corridor after making a wrong turn down a side hallway that dead-ended.   
"How was I suppose to know that was the wrong corridor?" asked Andar. "This thing just gives direction not floor plans. You're the one who's been on a Command Carrier before."  
"I'm sorry, they're not all exactly the same," said the Delvian girl.  
They walk for a few more microns following the homing beacon and soon they were able to hear a loud commotion from up ahead of them.  
"We must be near the off-duty lounge," Malika concluded.  
"Sounds like they're having a party or something," commented Andar.  
The pair kept walking on, Malika fell in close to Andar and both draped an arm around the other as the ruse had been working fine for them so far. They reached the double doors to the lounge and slowed their pace to look inside as they drew even with them. Just then, a form came flying out headfirst and passed directly in front of them to impact with the wall. The crowd inside let lose a huge cheer as the body slid down the wall. The couple was shocked to realize it was Berret who lay on the floor before them.  
The Shrike shook his head as if to clear it and looked up at Andar, then groaned under his breath.  
"You're not there yet?"  
"We got lost," said the teacher in a low voice.  
Berret looked back into the bar as he got back to his feet and saw everyone was too busy congratulating the sergeant to pay much attention to him.  
"What the frell are you doing?" hissed Malika.  
"Losing a fight I picked," replied Berret as he shook out a kink or ache in his shoulder.  
"Why the holy hezmana did you..." the girl tried to ask.  
Berret cut her off. "No time... down the corridor three intersection and then make a right," he directed them. "If we meet up again... ignore me," said the Shrike as he headed back toward the lounge doorway.  
"I plan to," said Andar to the assassin's back.  
They watched as the man disappeared back inside to the roaring crowd.  
"I can't believe I let that man talk me into this," grumbled Malika as they quickly moved away from the lounge area. "Here we are risking our lives while he has fun bar room brawling."  
"What else did you have planned to do tonight?" whispered Andar.  
"Oh! I don't know," said the Delvian girl as she forced herself to smile at a passing Sebacean man who leered at her. "...Mediate, read a good text... not get killed on some hair-brained scheme on a Peacekeeper Command Carrier."  
Andar brought one of her slim blue hand to his lips and romantically kissed the back of it.  
"Admit it... the hair-brained scheme is much more fun," he said with a roguish grin.  
  
"This sector is clear and there's nothing on the scans," reported Aeryn.  
"There is no sign in this frelling sector either," replied D'argo from the other Prowler, "I'm moving on to the next scheduled search pattern."  
"Copy," said Aeryn, "I'm moving to my next one also."  
Chiana listened to the reports coming in over Moya's comm system from the two Prowlers and sighed.  
"There's still no news," she said aloud to no one in particular.  
"I'm telling you, if we were smart we'd starburst the frell out of here instead of waiting around," harped Rygel for the hundred time.  
"We are well aware of your feelings, Rygel. Now be silent!" commanded Zhaan. The Delvian caught the Nebari girl's attention again and asked, "Are you sure you can't think of a way to contact this Shenna person again. If he has been watching Berret so closely as he claims, he might know where he and the others have gone to?"  
"I wish I could, Zhaan. If anybody could find him, I have no doubt it would be that strange old man," replied Chiana.  
"Perhaps he'll see fit to contact us and let us know their whereabouts," Zhaan said hopefully.  
Chiana frowned, the worry plain on her gray face, "It wouldn't surprise me if Shenna was right there with Berret. He seems to be the type that is full of surprises," she said.  
  
The topic of the Delvian and Nebari's discussion was indeed close by to Berret. The old Delvian shook his head as he watched the man be slammed onto a table by the big Sebacean. The table smashed to pieces as Berret's weight fell on top of it.  
"That boy... that boy..." mutter Shenna. There were subtler ways of creating a distraction he said to himself. A few microns earlier when the sergeant tossed the younger Shrike out the front door he had caught a glimpse of two familiar figures in the hallway that paused for a few microts. Shenna had recognized Berret's two shipmates immediately and realized what the man was up to. The PK trooper picked Berret up from the wreckage of the table and hauled him to his feet. Using one meaty fist to hold the Shrike study he cock the other back to punch Berret in the face. Berret waited until the man had drawn his arm all the way back and then sent a hook punch of his own into the man's armpit. The Peacekeeper released Berret as he caved over to that side in reaction to the strike. Berret than stamped on the man's forward foot with his own heavy boot, making the man dance away from the Shrike, not being able to decide which hurt more... his armpit or his foot. While not exactly fair, the other Peacekeeper seemed to enjoy the underhanded move and Shenna could see several of them standing nearby, file the technique away for future reference. The crowd cheered and Berret turned half drunkenly to them and held both arms up in the air as if in victory. Berret paraded for the crowd while the sergeant behind him cleared his head and charged at Berret's back. The spectators roared their approval as the Shrike's eyes went wide in surprise as the big Peacekeeper soldier yanked both feet out from under him.  
"That boy... that boy..." muttered Shenna again as he headed for the lounge doorway.   
  
Andar and Malika followed the Shrike's directions, double-checking their course with the tracking device; they found that Berret had given them accurate instructions.   
"Well, at least he gave us the right directions. Surprising since he smelled like a distillery," Malika commented in disgust, "I still recall what happened when Chiana got him drunk on that wine."  
Andar chortled, "I wager Rygel remembers that night too. He complained for three solar days about having to peel adhesive from his skin after they taped him to that support beam. Lucky for him, Zhaan came along and rescued him."  
Malika smiled at the memory, "Zhaan was certainly crossed with them. I've encountered Shrikes in the past and I have to admit for a professional assassin, Berret is unquestionably... unique."  
Andar shook his head, "Well, I've never met any people who lived in space before... much less a professional assassin, to me you're all 'unique' to the point of being bizarre," he joked.  
Malika twisted her thin lips up at his comment but before she could come back with a response the homing device started to chirp.   
"That's the intersection up ahead," he said, all business now. They slowed their pace as they performed a cursory walk-by to check for security. To their surprise the short hallway leading to the heavy security door was unguarded.  
"Do you believe this, there's no guard here," Andar whispered, stating the obvious.  
Malika frowned as she visually inspected the hallway, but she couldn't see any of the normal security alarm systems anywhere. "No alarms or sensors either. Zhaan told me that Scorpius took this Command Carrier over from Crais not too long ago, maybe he hasn't had time to install any alarms yet?" she ventured.  
The Sebacean man looked around them, "Well, we can't stand here all night. Someone's bound to come along sooner or later and ask what we're doing here. I suggest we get on with it."  
The Delvian girl nodded in agreement and reached for her small tool bag. The pair was just about to take the first steps into the hallway when a pair of Delvian blue hands yanked them back by the scruff of their necks.  
  
"You two youngsters almost made your first and last fatal mistake," said the old Delvian who had dragged them away from the hallway. "There are high intensity lasers hidden in the walls. One step and you both would have been diced into pieces. See that red stripe?" asked the old man as he pointed at the red line at the mouth of the corridor. "Those indicate a high security area. No one without clearance can venture into them."  
The young pair released a penned breath in unison as they realized that the old Delvian servant wasn't a Peacekeeper and from their narrow escape. Malika was the first to recover and she quickly moved to retain their disguises. Continuing to play the part of a young pleasure slave, the girl made an odd hand gesture and spoke a quick phrase in old Delvian and then added respectfully,  
"Thank you, Grandfather. We were just looking for a private place and weren't paying attention to the danger."  
Andar caught on quickly and chimed in, "Yes, thank you. I guess we had too much to drink tonight."  
The old Delvian smiled pleasantly and replied, "You are most welcomed Pa'u Malika, and you also Andar of House Murdough." The servant's grin grew broader at the look of shock on the couple's faces after he had called them by their names. "Peace, young ones. We have a common acquaintance," the Delvian said. "I am Shenna, Grandmaster Shrike... and personal housekeeper to Scorpius." The last part he added with a tone of amusement. "Allow me to deactivate the security system for you," he told them.  
Shenna produced a device that looked as if it was cobbled together from a bunch of spare electronic parts.  
The machine clicked and whirred for a few microts.  
"Scorpius is somewhat of an untidy sort, leaving the disarm codes laying around his quarters for anyone to decipher and built a sonic key for... such an unorganized lad," he said to the dumbfounded pair as the device shut off. "There, all done," said the Grandmaster. "I'm sorry but I wasn't able to find the physical key to unlock the security door itself. I'm afraid that you will have to open on your own."  
The old Delvian looked at Andar who had a comical look on his face and added, "Close your mouth, young man... before something flies into it."  
Andar realized he'd been staring opened mouthed at the old Delvian man.  
"All right, you're the old Shrike Berret and Chiana mentioned? What are you doing here?" he asked.  
"One and the same," replied Shenna. "I'm here for a few reasons, one of which is to keep an eye on your friend Berret. Speaking of which, I have to get back to him before he and that rather large man beat each other into a pulp in their silly game. I knew where the two of you were headed when I saw you and I wanted to make sure you made it by the security system all right."  
He waved for them to continue on and turned to walk back the way he'd come. He paused for a microt as he passed the still wide-eyed Malika and bid her good-bye in old Delvian. Malika answered him back and he padded her hand before turning away from her and continuing on his way.  
"Such a polite young lady," he murmured to himself loud enough for them to hear as he wandered down the corridor with his walking staff. "Now if only Berret and his lady friend, Chiana, could pick up some of her manners."  
Andar turned to Malika and blinked his eyes a few times before saying, "This just keeps getting stranger and stranger."  
"There's no argument from me there," agreed the Delvian girl. "But it's lucky for us that he came along or we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."  
Andar nodded and then said, "Let's go crack that door and get this over with before something else happens."  
  
"You're in my light," hissed Malika as at the same moment Andar whispered, "Hurry up!"   
The Sebacean stepped off to one side and added with a cockeyed grin, "Sorry, I know how much you Delvians like your light."  
The girl paused with her work for a microt and blew a rogue strand of hair out of her eyes before replying,  
"You're not funny," in a sarcastic voice and then went back to work on the door's lock.  
Andar shrugged, "I was just trying to relieve the tension."  
"You're still not funny," said the girl just as the lock clicked and the door's bolt slid back.  
They pushed open the heavy security door and closed it after they slid inside. The room's lights automatically came on as they sensed someone enter the room. Scorpius' private computer station was reveled as the illumination came to full intensity.  
"There it is," said Andar unnecessarily as he handed the homing device to Malika so she could retrieve the homing bug that the Shrike had planted earlier. Andar study the computer console for a micron and then produced his small pouch of tools from inside one boot top. He booted the system up and observed the data flowing over the screen. He hummed to himself and rubbed his chin in thought as Malika watched him scan the readouts. Without a word he pulled out a tool and detached one faceplate from the panel, exposing the computer's innards.   
He selected a data crystal from his kit and inserted it into the drive port. Malika saw the data stream change and then Andar connected probes leading to a small box-like device from his belt tool kit into the opened face of the machine.  
"What's that?" she asked the man.  
"Something I put together, I really don't have a name for it yet," he answered while not taking his eyes off the screen, every few microts he press a series of buttons on the small device from his pouch.  
"Well? What does it do then?" asked the girl in annoyance.  
"Oh..." said Andar as he realized he'd been sidetracked and hadn't answered the Delvian's question, "It rewrites data in such a way that it doesn't disturb security protocols. It scans the data without removing it, rewrites it to a bi-octal code I made up, and then removes the bi-octal codes without touching or accessing the primary data codes in whatever language they are writing in. The bi-octal passes through the security layers because it's not recognizable as data to them. They default believing its just another layer of encryptment."  
Malika blinked her eyes at the explanation, "What?" she finally asked.  
Andar checked the device to be sure it was still downloading data and then tried again.  
"Its like a reading a secret document through a pair of occulars, then writing what your reading down but doing it in a code that you make up. Anyone finding your copy would think it was gibberish and not pay it much mind, it would only be readable after you've decoded it back to it's original form. I was reading up on some computer programming and construction texts in Moya's library when the idea for this device came to me."  
"Are you sure it will work?" she asked.  
"Nope, never tried it on anything but the work stations aboard Moya before today."  
"Well, did it work then?" asked the girl in alarm.  
"Well... not at first. I had to 'tweak' it as John says some before it began to work... sometimes."  
"Goddess help me! You didn't even know if this thing would work before we left on this crazy trip!"  
"I'm reasonably sure it will," said Andar defensively. "It's only got a few bugs left to work out."  
Malika rolled her eyes and began to chant to herself, asking for strength and patience.  
  
Berret had just been tossed through his forth tabletop and his body was beginning to seriously ache from the punishment he was taking. He rolled back onto his feet to face the big sergeant again. So far the damage total came to six tables, a broken gambling game, several crushed and bruised Peacekeeper patrons, and an unknown number of chairs. The fight had continued to draw an ever increasing crowd and even Scorpius and more of his toadies eventually showed up to watch the event. The half-Scarren seemed to be enjoying the spectacle, his toothy grin growing wider every time Berret appeared to be on the losing end. One of the big sergeant's blows had caught the Shrike full in the mouth causing him to bleed. He almost spit the blood out onto the floor, but with Scorpius present he thought against it and swallowed the salty fluid instead. No sense giving the pasty bastard anything to examine he thought. Berret wasn't sure if the half-breed knew about his microbe enhancement, but he damn sure didn't want him finding out he wasn't Sebacean. Pikes wound up and then fired a right cross at the Shrike's jaw. Berret slipped the punch and came up under the outstretched arm, driving both fists into the man's lower ribcage. The Peacekeeper expelled air from his lungs with the force of the double blow. Berret followed up by cocking his right arm back and delivering a ridge hand blow to the man's unguarded head, the hard edge of his stiffed hand slamming into the larger man's forehead and sending him staggering backwards a few steps. The strike wasn't meant to injure but only stun. Berret gave the sergeant a few microts to get his bearings; both men were tired and panting heavily, which gave Berret an idea. The sergeant warily put his hands up in a defensive position and started to advance towards the Shrike once again. Berret did the same and took a single step and paused as if in deep thought. Pikes did the same - expecting a trick.  
After a few microts Berret said as a matter of fact, "Brawling is hard work." Not knowing what else to do the Peacekeeper nodded his head in agreement. The ex-assassin licked his lips in show and continued,  
"I don't know about you but I'm thirsty and this is far from over. What do you say we call a temporary truce to refresh ourselves? Afterwards we can continue our duel in the proper honorable way."  
"How do I know this isn't some sort of trick?" asked the burley sergeant.  
Berret did his best to look offended, "Please, I never joke about something as important as a good Raslek," he lied. "I'll buy the first round and you may buy the second. That way nobody's honor will be impeached by having to drink on the other's charity."  
The sergeant rubbed his lantern jaw and replied, "Now that you mentioned it, a drink would go down good about now."  
The crowd started to hiss about the fight being halted so the Shrike announced, "A round of Rasleks for all on me!"  
The hisses changed to cheers as the patrons rushed the bar. Pikes caught Berret's eyes.  
"This fight is not over yet Shrike, don't think you're getting out of it this easy," he said.  
Berret made a show of rolling his eyes, "Must you Peacekeepers be so uncivilized that you can think of only one thing at a time. There's plenty of time for drinking and brawling tonight."  
He slapped the big man on the back as he sided up to the bar next to him.  
"I guess it's up to me to teach you barbarians the proper way to have a good time. Fighting and drinking should go hand in hand, a man cannot have a proper fight if he's thirsty, so drink up." Berret lifted his drink up high to the room.  
"To honorable dueling," toasted Berret.  
"Honorable dueling," replied the sergeant and he clinked his flagon against Berret's.  
"You're an odd man, Shrike," said Pikes over the rim of his mug, "What colony are you originally from?" Berret took a microt and then answered off the top of his head, a name he'd heard John use.  
"Pittsburgh"  
Pikes grunted, "Never heard of it."  
"Small ball of dirt in an out of the way place. All we mostly did was drink and fight. Might say we have it down to an art form."  
Pikes down the rest his drink and slammed it on the bar top, he loudly called for the next round as Berret finished his glass. As the barkeep filled both mugs the Shrike turned back to the crowd.  
"Another round for all on me!" he called out again, patrons pushing and shoving to get to the bar immediately swamped the pair.  
"You're also a generous man, Shrike," concluded Pikes as the bartender set their mugs before them.  
"I can afford to be... it's all going on Scorpius' tab," replied Berret, remembering to raise his mug in mock toast to the scowling half-Scarren in the corner. He turned back to Pikes and held up his mug again.  
"To learning the proper way to drink and fight," toasted the Shrike.  
"The proper way," agreed Pikes as he knocked glasses with him.  
  
"Uh-oh, I was afraid of this," said Andar.  
"What?" exclaimed Malika.  
"There's a high security firewall in the software," he replied.  
"What the frell does that mean?"  
"It means that it'll take time to get to the data we need."  
"Well, how much time!"  
Andar checked the read out on his instrument, "About 12 arns, give or take an arn."  
"Twelve arns! You said that thing could get to the codes despite the security protocols."  
"It can, but a firewall's different. It has to worm its way through it. The good news is that there can only be one firewall in the system," the Sebacean explained.  
"That doesn't matter now. We can't stay here for 12 arns. We'll get caught."  
Andar began to pull out files from Scorpius's computer database and download them into his hand-comp.  
"We'll just have to come back latter then," he said as he stuffed his code-copying device inside of the computer and began to seal the machine back up. "I've downloaded the pass code for the hallway security system so we can get back in latter, I hope no one takes this computer apart in the next 12 arns. If they discover my little black box, we're done for." 


	11. Chapter 10

Some arns later, Berret awoke to find himself looking up into Shenna's wrinkled face.  
"Did you have a good time?" asked the old Delvian Shrike.  
Berret found his words oddly echoing somewhere in his head. He tried to sit up and suddenly felt like he would have slid off the edge of the world had they been planet bound.  
"What happened?" he croaked out.  
Shenna made a show of looking around the room, "I would say you had a party... a very large party."  
Berret tried to sit up again and then became aware of a weight impending his movement, looking downward he found the sleeping female Peacekeeper from Pikes' table with her arms wrapped around his torso. Berret was confused for a few microts why the woman would be hugging him until Shenna said,  
"You won her in a bet."  
The news made the Shrike pause for a microt; he looked as if he wanted to ask a question but then decided against it. "I don't even want to know," he muttered as he worked himself clear of the slumbering female trooper.  
Shenna helped him to his feet and he looked around the lounge. Most of the furniture had been destroyed and there were bodies all over the place. Sergeant Pikes lay snoring on top of the bar wearing nothing but socks and his briefs. Suspiciously a pretty Acquarian serving girl was passed out on the floor under the bar wearing what looked like a large PK sergeant's uniform. Slowly the room stopped spinning for the Shrike as the Delvian helped him navigate around broken tables, chairs, and the occasional snoozing body.  
"I never want to see another Raslek again," complained Berret as he rubbed one temple. Apparently sometime during the night he overindulged until he surpassed even the tolerance of his microbes to Raslek.  
Shenna stopped and picked up a bag. "I have your amour here," he said shaking the bag and making the metal plates rattle painfully in Berret's head. The ex-assassin had a sneaking suspicion the old man was purposely trying to split his head. "I must say, you can be very entertaining when you relax and cut lose. You should drink more often."  
Berret eyed the man in annoyance, "You are not funny in the slightest." The younger Shrike surveyed the damage to the lounge and then turned to the Grandmaster to ask, "Who won the fight?"  
"Neither of you," replied Shenna. When Berret looked confused he went on to explain. "After you made the first two toasts, Sergeant Pikes realized that he should also make two toasts so that you were both even on that issue. After Pikes made his toasts to his unit and some long forgotten battle, you pointed out that no one had made a toast to the Peacekeepers in the lounge. After you did that, several people in the crowd felt they had to return the favor and toast the Sergeant and yourself... which lead to both of you making more toasts to individuals..."  
"I get the point," Berret said cutting him off.  
"I'm certainly glad you do, because after that point it gets rather confusing."  
"What happen to Scorpius?" asked the ex-assassin.  
"He left just before the dancing started."  
"Dancing?" asked Berret.  
"Yes, he was quite annoyed. I believe you ran up a rather large tab."  
"Goddess," Berret moaned as he rubbed his aching head. "I hope Chiana never hears about this."  
  
The guard from earlier in the day had been relieved sometime during the night, the new one waited patiently in the corridor for the old Delvian to led the Shrike out to him. As the pair passed by he silently fell into position behind the pair.  
"Lord Scorpius has directed me to take you back to your ship so you may refresh yourself," said Shenna, playing the faithful servant role for the new guard's benefit. Berret just grunted a reply thinking it better not to have to engage the old man in a discussion anyway. Just before exiting the lounge the Grandmaster had told Berret that Andar and Malika had safely returned to the Wraith undetected and he was anxious to meet with them to get their report on their half of the operation. Shenna bowed and departed a few corridors away from the landing bay and the guard halted just outside the bay doors, obviously having orders not to approach the Shrike's armed craft. Berret waited until the hanger doors closed pretending to inspect the Wraith for tampering before opening its hatch. Once aboard with the hatch closed, Malika and Andar came out of their hiding places at the rear of the flight deck.  
"What the hezmana happened to you?" asked the Sebacean man.  
"The brawl turned into a drinking match after I met with you," replied Berret putting a hand to his aching forehead, "I believe I lost that also."  
Malika frowned deeply. "I don't believe it!" she said. "We were risking our lives creeping around Scorpius' Command Carrier... and there you were... having a party?"  
"It wasn't what I planned," said Berret tiredly, "besides, would you rather have been fighting that big Peacekeeper sergeant in my place?"  
Malika both hands on her hips and sneered, "At least I would have won."  
Berret was about to ask why the Delvian girl had to be so unreasonable when Andar interrupted in the squabble.   
"We have better things to do right now then bicker among ourselves," he reminded them.  
Berret nodded that the younger man had a point and then asked the couple, "Did you get the codes we need?"  
"Well, there's been a slight delay," responded Andar.  
"Why?" asked the Shrike.  
Andar and Malika filled the ex-assassin in on their part of the mission including running into the firewall.  
"I see," said Berret, "then you were correct in choosing to try and retrieve the codes before we reached the commerce planet. If we had waited until the last micron as I had suggested to avoid detection, you would have not had enough time to by-pass the security system." The Shrike found he was glad he listened to Andar's gut feeling about going for the codes as soon as they were able. The man seemed to have an uncanny instinct when it came to electronics and computer systems.   
"We should have at least one more solar day to complete our mission. It will take that long to load the supplies and have the carrier return us to our point of departure. I hope your device can worm its way to the data by then," said Berret.  
"It was functioning better then I thought it would when we left it concealed in the work station. By tonight we should have all the data we need," replied the Sebacean, giving the Delvian girl a playfully smug look.   
Berret nodded as he changed into a fresh set of PK leathers, his ballistic suit was covered with all types of residue from the destruction of the lounge and he balled it up and stuffed it into the Wraith's small refresher unit to be cleaned.  
"We met your friend, Shenna, last night on our stroll too," said Malika. "A very interesting fellow."   
"Yes, he told me... though I wouldn't call him my friend as I've only met him once before this."  
"Then why did he help us?" asked Malika suspiciously.  
"I don't know. But I do know he wants something from us, or from me at least," replied Berret as he snapped on his gauntlets over his forearms.  
"Can you at least make a guess as to what that is?" asked Andar. "It makes me nervous not knowing if he's friend or foe."  
Berret sat down for a microt to relax in one of the flight deck's chairs before answering.  
"I'm afraid I can't even do that. He's as much a mystery to me as he is to you. I'm sure we won't have long to wait before he lets us know what it is he wants."  
  
"Where can they be?" asked Chiana as she slammed her small fists down in frustration on the center chamber's table. "Something's wrong, we have to go look for them," she continued.  
"Where and with what, Chiana?" replied Aeryn. "We are on an unarmed Leviathan and we're suppose to go looking for a fully armed Command Carrier with only two Prowlers for protection to find your lost playmate?"  
"I still say we forget about the whole frelled thing and starburst out of here," put in Rygel.  
"We already know what you think, Sparky," said Crichton in annoyance. "We're not going anywhere until we find out if they were able to get those codes," he continued while taking a swat at the dodging Hynerian.  
"John, we don't even know if they're still alive," D'argo said. "They could have been captured and tortured... by now Scorpius could be on his way here for the rest of us."  
"D'argo's right. Those children wouldn't hold up long against Peacekeeper interrogation techniques," explained Aeryn.  
"Berret is not a child!" exclaimed the Nebari girl.  
"He might as well be," argued the Sebacean woman. "For all intensive purposes, he may as well have been born the microt you found him in that alley."  
"Enough! All of you," interrupted Zhaan who had remained silent up till then. "They maybe young, but if they work together they might succeed. Berret might have problems with his memory, but he has the experiences of a professional assassin and Scorpius wants something from him. Malika and Andar are very resourceful and Malika has been aboard command carriers in the past. They should be able to blend in if the Shrike can smuggle them aboard. We will not leave until we are positive they have failed and won't be coming back." She looked from face to face of her crewmates. "Have I made myself clear?" she asked forcefully.   
The group nodded their heads except for Rygel. Stubbornly the Hynerian added, "Alright, we wait a little while longer. But if it even looks like the Peacekeepers are heading toward this sector... we starburst with or without your two brats and Chiana's pet. Agreed?"  
Zhaan settled back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest as she regarded the small being.  
"Of course, Rygel. I would not endanger Moya and Pilot for anything, but we are not leaving until we've given them as much time as we can to make it home."  
Rygel, Aeryn, and D'argo left the center chamber a few microns later, Rygel to return to his quarters and the other two to take out the Prowlers for another patrol.  
"Thanks for agreeing, Zhaan," said Crichton when they were gone.  
"Yeah, Zhaan... thanks," echoed Chiana.  
The Pa'u looked at the pair seated across from her. "I didn't do it for either of your concerns. They went out there because they felt they owed it to us for taking them in as part of this crew. I do not agree with the way they went about it, but I will not abandon them until it is absolutely necessary for Moya's safety. I would do the same for any of you."  
"We know, Zhaan... but thanks anyway," replied John.   
  
Berret stifled a yawn as Scorpius continued to brag about some of his discoveries while taking the Shrike on a tour of some of his recently set up labs aboard the Command Carrier he had taken over from Crais. Berret made it plainly evident that he wasn't in the slightest bit interested in Peacekeeper science, which made Scorpius more determined to force him to continue the tour. In reality, the Shrike was absorbing as much information as he was able to report back to Zhaan and the others. Scorpius had just shown him the upgraded Aurora Chair and was explaining its uses. Berret pretended to be less then impressed and started to amuse himself by openly leering at Scorpius' female PK nurse.  
"That's all very nice, Scorpius. Can we go back to the lounge now?" he asked while making eyes at the nurse. When Berret first rejoined the half-Scarren later that morning, he made several barbed comments about the Shrike being under the weather from the pervious nights activities, making it painfully obvious that he hoped that Berret was in less then perfect shape. Berret put on that his head didn't pound quite as much as it did and repeatedly asked during the tour when they would be able to return to the lounge and pick up where they left off the night before. He knew that they had run up a very high tab on Scorpius' account and he could see that it greatly annoyed the half-Scarren but at the same time, it simultaneously gave him a sense of satisfaction that his belief that Berret was a self-centered buffoon was confirmed.   
Still Scorpius was not ready to turn him lose to do further damage to his credit.  
Instead he chose to distract the Shrike by making his attempt at flirting with his nurse a topic of discussion.  
"I had thought that you where interested only in your Nebari tralk?" he asked in his oily smooth voice.  
Berret gave him a glare. "She serves her purpose and she knows her place. As long as she does, I will keep her around... and that includes staying out of my other 'private' business." He finished by giving the nurse what he hoped was an open look of lust, which he did his best to copy from what he observed the off-duty troopers display last night in the lounge. It must have been correct because the woman began to lose her composure and look nervous with his attention. Smiling inwardly with the results, he considered trying the tactic sometime on Chiana, but an inner voice warned him that if he did he would be biting off more then he could currently handle.  
Scorpius considered his comment, "Yes, that should have been obvious last night by the way you handled Sergeant Pikes female aid after winning her in your bet. Most impressive, you are indeed a man who does as he pleases." The half Scarren showed his pointed teeth in a sinister grin.  
Berret moaned inwardly and began to think maybe he should ask Shenna what exactly had happened the night before. Again he swore never to touch another drop of Raslek, which should be an easy vow to keep since he hated the stuff. He motioned for Scorpius to led the way on their tour without answering further.  
"I really, really hope Chiana doesn't hear about this," he thought to himself for the tenth time that morning.  
  
"What do you mean... you ate the last desert cube?" asked Malika irately.   
"I was hungry and you were asleep. I didn't know you were saving it," apologized Andar.  
Malika almost started to berate the man further but then decide to hold her tongue. Realizing that the cube wasn't an important issue and that she was just reacting to the stressful situation they had been under for the last few arns. Instead she wiggled a forefinger a bare dench in front of Andar's nose.  
"You owe me then," the Delvian told him.  
Before Andar could reply a tapping at the rear troop deployment hatch in the Wraith's belly interrupted them.  
"What the frell was that?" she asked in a lowered voice.  
"I don't know," responded the Sebacean man as the both grabbed up weapons.  
The tapping came again as they moved to cover the access way in the flight deck's floor. From outside the ship came a muffled, "Hello."  
"There's somebody out there," stated Andar.  
Malika rolled her eyes at the obvious comment. "No dren. But how did they get out there and this close to the ship. I thought the A.I. was suppose to blast the drez out of any Peacekeeper that got too close?"  
Andar shrugged his shoulder to indicate he didn't have an answer. The voice outside began to call them by name next.  
"Malika? Andar? Are you in there?" it asked.  
"Frell! Frell! Frell! We got to shut whoever that is up before somebody hears them," exclaimed Andar excitedly as he pounded his fist against the hatch's activation control.   
The hatch slid open and both crewmates pointed their pulse pistols at their un-welcomed visitor.  
"Master Shenna?" said Malika in disbelieve at the old Delvian man crouched under the hatchway.  
"There you youngsters are," said the Grandmaster, seemingly unconcerned about the weapons pointed at him.  
"What are you doing here? How did you get in here?" asked Andar and then remembering that someone might still see them, gestured for the man to climb aboard after he lowered the hatchway's small ladder.   
"Don't worry, children. There are no Peacekeepers nearby," said the aged man as he climbed the ladder with far more agility then either of the younger pair thought he would have possessed. "I've come to talk with you. As to how I arrived in the bay, I used the hole you so conveniently cut into the maintenance tunnel. Don't fear... I replaced the cover just as you had left it."  
"Okay, but how did you get near the Wraith without getting blown to bits? The A.I. has order to fire on any Peacekeeper that..." Andar's voice trailed off as he realized he's hit upon the answer. "Peacekeeper," he repeated to Malika. "Peacekeeper generally means Sebacean, not Delvian. That's why the Wraith didn't consider Shenna a threat and let him approach."   
"Was I in danger?" asked the old man in surprise.  
"You could have been if Berret had been more specific in the orders he gave the Wraith," answered Malika. She turned to Andar, "We'll have to correct that oversight, otherwise we might get more visitors."  
"Well, I'm glad you hadn't discovered that error until after my visit. I hadn't considered that the ship would have a programmable defensive system," said Shenna and then added as an after thought, "But please don't tell Berret I made that slight miscalculation. The boy does look up to me and holds me in awe after all." Shenna grinned at his jest at the younger Shrike expense while Malika started to mutter,  
"The only thing he holds in awe is Chiana's..."  
Andar elbowed the woman in the ribs to keep her from completing the comment.   
The Delvian girl glared at the man, Andar for his part ignored her and continued to question the Grandmaster.   
"Okay so why are you here?" he asked him.  
"I'm here to help you get what you came for... the codes to the neural implant in your crewmate's head. I'm also here to ask your help in something I need as well."  
Andar nodded in acquiesce, "Berret said you probably wanted something from us."  
"The only problem is," put in Malika, "What is it?"  
The old Delvian smiled at the slight tone of mistrust in the young girl's voice. He also noted the way the couple sat next to each other facing him as a united front, their thighs almost touching. His smile deepened as he realized what was blossoming between them, though unlike Berret and Chiana their relationship was still in its infancy. The pair worked well together but he hoped the Sebacean man had enough patients. The long-lived Delvians were notorious for at times taking ages to decide to commit where matters of the heart where concerned. He thought about being mischievous for a microt but decided against it. Unlike Berret who needed to be pushed in certain directions for his own good, these two would find their right path in their own good time without outside help.  
Shenna came back to the business at hand, "Like you I want to help a friend, an old friend. But I'll need your help talking Berret into going along with the plan."   
  
"He want us to help him do what?" exclaimed Berret in disbelieve an arn and a half later.  
"Help him free Val'Cirrus," repeated Andar once again.  
"Had the old bastard been drinking?" the Shrike asked sarcastically. "He can't be serious."  
"He just wants to do the same thing we're doing, help a friend," said the Sebacean.  
"She tried to kill me... and Chiana,"  
"Too bad she wasn't just a little quicker," Malika threw in with a sneer.  
Berret turned to the Delvian girl and was about to make a scalding reply when Andar stepped in.  
"People! Let's be grown up now. The Peacekeepers have almost finished loading the supplies for us to take back to Moya. We'll be underway back to our departure point soon and we still have to get back into that lab to retrieve my device with the codes."  
He paused to make sure both of his team mates where listening. Malika quickly stuck her tongue out in Berret's direction, much to the Shrike's annoyance. Andar was surprised that she would continue to bait the ex-assassin; seeing that not too long ago she went out of her way to avoid the man as much as possible. He considered maybe the girl was not only learning to accept the tall man as a shipmate but despite her claims to the contrary, she was actually thriving on the excitement of the adventure.   
He had always thought that beneath that serious Pa'u acolyte exterior beat the heart of a rogue.  
"The new question that needs to be answered is," he said pausing for effect, "Do we help Shenna free Val'Cirrus in exchange for his help getting what we need?" 


	12. Chapter 11

"Do the supplies meet with your approval?" asked Scorpius.  
Berret pretended to inspect the packages inside the cargo container. He had no intention of bringing the food cubes back to Moya for use, but he put on the act of examining the cargo for the half-Scarren's benefit. "I believe they will be sufficient to fool the others," he finally said.  
"Excellent," replied Scorpius giving him a toothy grin. "Now if you don't mind I'd like to have a discussion with you somewhere more private."  
Knowing he had little chance of avoiding the conversation even if he wanted to, the Shrike nodded his head in affirmation. Scorpius led the way back to his private chambers. Once inside he bid Berret to take a seat and for once the man complied without being too annoying. Scorpius studied the Sebacean man before him, for some reason he was unable to read the man like he could other creatures. There was something about his body that prevented him from getting a true reading on whether or not the man was being deceitful.  
Of course it went without saying that the Shrike had something to hide, every being had their secrets. It was just annoying that he couldn't tell exactly when Berret was hiding something.  
"So what is it you wanted to discuss?" asked the assassin, breaking him out of his thoughts.  
Scorpius did his best to give him a disarming smile without showing his pointed teeth.  
"I would very much like to try and talk you into reconsidering joining me."  
Berret smirked. "There's not much hope of that. I have no reason to trust you," he said.  
"You have not even asked as to why I desire the wormhole information in John Crichton's head."  
"I don't care why."  
"You should," answered Scorpius. "You might find the reason is of interest to you."  
"Why's that?" asked the Shrike, beginning to become curious.  
"You are aware that tensions between the Scarrens and Peacekeeper forces are growing. War is in inevitable. You realize that Scarrens out number Peacekeepers at over ten to one odds."  
"Sounds like you have a problem," Berret said offhandedly.  
"We all have the same problem," snapped Scorpius, his voice turning to a Scarren rumble. "Why must the man be so self-centered?" he thought to himself.   
"If we don't develop wormhole technology based weapons and do so before the Scarrens do. We will be over-run and destroyed. The Scarrens will take control of the Territories and life as you know it will cease."  
Personally Berret hoped that neither side developed any sort of new weapon and that they both spent all their time killing each other. In fact, if he were able... he'd see what he could do to push both fractions exactly in that direction. Outwardly, Berret gave Scorpius a look that said he was still bored with the conversation. "So what do you need me for? I'm just one man," he asked.  
"Not just a man, a Shrike assassin. With your help I can recruit other Shrikes away from the Syndicates to aid our cause. You can even train special operatives to carry out missions behind enemy lines. Shrike agents would be a powerful weapon to have in our arsenal for the coming war." Scorpius tilted his head to one side to regard the man. "Make no mistake, I have researched the old stories and written history of the Shrike clans. There is more to the assassins then the Syndicate lets on or than I believe they really know about the true nature of the Shrike warriors themselves. I believe they are alive and well even today."  
To Scorpius' displeasure, Berret gave the half-Scarren a lopsided grin and chuckled.  
"That's a nice story, Scorpius. But I'm sorry... I'm just some poor nurfer your good friend Arckatius trapped into playing mindless killing machine. I don't know anything about your legendary super-warriors. I'm free now, the only thing I want is to get Crichton to you so me and my Nebari girl can get the frell out of this sector... and to maybe drop off a Ion-bomb to that bastard Arckatius on the way out of the system."  
He stood up to leave the Peacekeeper commander's private chambers, "I wish you all the luck on digging them up. As far as we go, our deal is set. You get Crichton and let me go my own way with what you promised."   
Berret laughed out loud once again as he reached the doorway and looked back over one shoulder at him.  
"You better watch out, or you may find your secret clans of assassins might actually be here aboard your Command Carrier. Who knows? Maybe they are all now cooks in the ship's mess."  
Scorpius scowled at the Shrike's departing back. He'd been a fool to think that idiot knew more then he was letting on. Once he turned Crichton over to him, he'd see if a session in the Aurora Chair changed his tune.  
  
"You didn't have too hit him so hard," complained Andar as he dragged the unconscious PK grunt into a nearby storage locker.  
"He grabbed my eema!" said Malika.  
"You dared him too!" replied the Sebacean man.  
"He said he was going too and I told him what would happen if he did."  
"He thought you were being coy."  
"I wasn't, so he got what he deserved."  
Andar rolled his eyes at his stubborn friend. "We're suppose to be keeping a low profile," he said.  
"We are, he won't tell anyone," she replied with a nodded at the crumbled Peacekeeper.  
"Damn it, we are so close to being out of here," Andar said as he padded the lump that was his computer hacking device that they had just finished retrieving when they ran in to the amorous trooper. "We just have to make it back to the ship with these codes and we're almost done. Try and not call anymore attention to us by beating up anymore soldiers," he asked.  
"As long as they keep their hands to their selves, everything will be fine," Malika replied.  
The Sebacean sighed loudly as he cracked open the locker door and peered out into the corridor.  
"The halls clear, let's go before your new friend wakes up," he said as he led he back into the passageway.  
Once in the passage they resumed their roles as Peacekeeper officer and pleasure slave. A few Techs openly leered at Malika as they passed.  
"Easy, just a little further," cautioned Andar in a low voice to the Delvian at his side. "Try and keep your temper under... ACK!" he cut himself off as a strong hand gave his behind a healthy squeeze.  
Beside him, Malika wore a wicked smile as he turned to look at her in surprise. Behind them the Techs snickered as they caught the antics of the Delvian pleasure slave.  
"I see it's alright for you to do it," Andar whispered in mock annoyance.  
Malika leaned in and kissed him soundly on the cheek.   
"Of course," she whispered back to him. "Double standards in my favor," she explained.  
Andar raised an eyebrow at the comment.  
"Besides, I think the way you squeaked was cute," she added.  
  
Berret sat at the lounge bar in front of several empty Raslek bottles, waiting for the signal from his crewmates that would tell him that they had completed their retrieval mission. Forcing himself to drink several bottles of the vile beverage, he could see his PK chaperone speaking discreetly into his comm badge, probably keeping Scorpius up to date on the damage he was doing to his tab. The Shrike smiled to himself as he thought about how annoyed the half-Scarren had to be. Berret finished his current bottle and suppressed a shiver as the liquid slid down his throat. "I never want to see another bottle of Raslek for as long as I live," he thought to himself. Pretending to be very intoxicated, he waved the barkeep to bring him another. He was saved from having to drink the fresh one when the comm badge that Andar altered to a secured comm-link vibrated against his skin inside his armored breastplate. Berret sighed lightly in relief as the signal told him that Malika and Andar had gotten the device safely back to the Wraith and were beginning phase two of their new plan and were on their way to met with Shenna. Having kept his guard and Scorpius busy while the secret lab was invaded, it was now time to rid himself of the watchdog.  
Berret wobbled to his feet and made a show of checking his chron. Turning to his guard he announced,  
"It'll be time for me to leave in just over an arn." He leaned in closer to the man as if confiding a secret.  
"Whadda' ya say we pay that scaly bitch one last visit fore' I go... just to say 'goodbye and hope ya rot in hezmana'?" He lifted an eyebrow and grinned at the trooper as if he just said something extremely witty.  
"We can do whatever you wish, sir," replied the guard, not even attempting to hide a look of disgust for the drunken man. Berret pretended he didn't notice the look and draped one arm over the man's shoulder as if they were the best of friends.  
"That's a good man. I'll but in a good word with Scorpy for ya fore' I leave," he slurred.  
The pair made it to the lounge doorway and Berret turned to walk in the wrong direction from the holding cells.  
"Excuse me, sir. The brig is this way," indicated the guard with a scowl.  
Berret spun about and almost slammed into a bulkhead, his eyes going wide in surprise.  
"Right you are, lead the way my good man. Did I tell you, you were a good man?" asked Berret as they walked on down the corridor.  
  
They dropped down one level and headed into the special secured area below the actual brig where the door to Val'Cirrus' cell was actually located. They had just crossed a corridor intersection where an old Delvian servant was pushing a cleaning cart along. They passed the old man and heading toward them was a tall Flight Commander and a very young and pretty Delvian pleasure slave. The guard took his attention off the drunken fool of a Shrike to give the girl an appraising glance. She saw his attention and gave him a sly smile and a provocative shake of her hips as she passed by him. He couldn't help but turn his head to follow her just a few microts more. When he turned back to his charge, he found himself almost nose to nose with the assassin, who didn't appear drunk any longer.  
"Tell me," asked the Shrike with a wicked grin, "What size are you?"   
Before he could ask the man what the frell he was talking about, he became aware that the Flight Commander and the slave where standing close right behind him. He turned to glance at the girl and found that she was no longer smiling at him anymore.  
"What the frell is going on here?" he asked momentarily confused.  
Instead of answering the Shrike rammed one armored fist into his solar plexus driving the air out of him and making it impossible for him to raise his pulse rifle. As he staggered back into the pair behind him, they caught his arms and held him upright. Berret sent an uppercut into the nerve center under his chin that knocked him out cold on his feet.  
"Your new uniform, Commander," Berret said to Andar with a mock bow.  
"Couldn't you have gotten one with a bit more flash?" asked Andar offhandedly as he and Malika began to strip the man.  
Shenna joined them and gave the trooper an injection. "That should keep him out for the better part of a solar day," he explained as they finished undressing the man and dumped him into the cleaning cart. Before covering him with linens and cleaning clothes, Malika pulled out a bag containing her new change of clothes. She withdrew a green tech coverall and donned it over her pleasure slave garb. After wrapping her long blue hair in a scarf, she secured a utility belt with cleaning implements round her thin waist. Andar quickly changed into the guard's uniform and tightened the battle helmet over his head and dropped the dark visor down, further obscuring his features. Gripping the guard's Pulse-rifle across his chest, he gave Berret a nod to signify he was ready to go.  
Shenna approached Berret. "I want to thank you for helping me break Val'Cirrus out, my boy."  
Berret shook his head and frowned, "I still can't believe I let you talk me into this. I'm still for letting her stay here and rot."  
"What's done is done, Berret," said Malika. "If it wasn't for Master Shenna we never would have gotten as far as we have. We need each other's help still if we're all going to get away."  
Berret grudgingly admitted the woman was right and turned back to the old Delvian.  
"Are you sure your escape plan is all set? I'm not going to hang around this system any longer then I have too once we are away."  
Shenna nodded. "I have a ship waiting two sectors away from here. We approach it under stealth and we transfer aboard and then each of us go our separate ways. The Peacekeepers will be none the wiser. By the time they discover Val'Cirrus missing we'll be beyond their reach."  
"I still don't like the idea of her aboard the Wraith with us," commented the Shrike.  
"I will be able to control her," promised Shenna.  
Berret's frowned deepened as if he somehow doubted that. "Let's go get this done," he finally said.  
  
Berret entered the lower holding area for Val'Cirrus' cell followed by his armed guard. He drunkenly approached the viewing glass and appeared to gaze malevolently at the female Shrike behind the barrier. Behind the two, a pair of Delvian slaves on cleaning duty entered and began to clean the area. Val'Cirrus glared at Berret but elected to remain seated where she was in her cell and not give the man the pleasure of her responding to his drunken taunts. Malika worked her way over to the camera system and gave the lens a critical inspection before apparently deciding that they were in need of a cleaning. She brought over a folding step stool and climbed up in front of the camera so that her body blocked the view of the room. Taking a bottle of soap she sprayed the lens until they were covered with thick foam and then began to take her time slowly wiping them clean while humming loudly to herself in case there was audio.  
As soon as the girl blocked the camera, Berret hissed, "Go!" to Andar.  
In a flash the Sebacean man was beside the locked cell door, another of his picking devices in his hand.  
"We also got the cell door codes from Scorpius' computer while we were at it," he explained as Berret and Shenna joined him.  
The device sounded a tone and the door's locked cycled open. Andar yanked his machine off the lock and Berret and Shenna slipped into the cell. Berret entered first and Val'Cirrus jumped to her feet in surprise, her clawed hands coming up into a defensive position.  
"So you've come to try and kill me while I'm relatively defenseless," she accused in a hiss.  
"No such luck," answered Berret as Shenna slipped inside behind him.  
"Shenna!" Val'Cirrus said as she saw the old Grandmaster, "So you also have come to punish me."  
"No, Marai... I've come to take you home and we don't have much time," Shenna told her.  
"My home is with the Syndicate. I have no reason to want to go back with you even if I did trust you."  
Berret turned to Shenna. "We don't have time to argue about this," he said.  
He raised one arm and pointed a small pistol-like device at the female Shrike. Seeing what she perceived as the ex-assassin about to kill her, Val'Cirrus hissed angrily and charged toward the man.  
The device in the Shrike's hand discharged with a crackling blue light that struck Val'Cirrus in the chest. The Master Shrike's rush faltered and she collapsed to the ground unconscious.   
"End of problem," said Berret as he moved forward to secure the assassin's deadly clawed hands with a pair of manacles.  
"There was no need to electro-stun her. She would have listen eventually to reason," complained Shenna.  
"Yeah, by then Scorpius could have joined us in trying to persuade her. How long do you think Malika can pretend to clean the camera before someone gets suspicious?" answered Berret. "Give me a hand getting them switched," he went on as he dragged the knocked out guard out of the cleaning cart and placed him on Val'Cirrus' sleeping pad. He covered the man with a sheet so anyone looking inside the cell couldn't tell it wasn't her. He then helped place Val'Cirrus' limp body into the cart and cover it up.  
  
Shenna wheeled the cart out of the cell and Berret closed the door behind them, feeling the lock shut solidly in place automatically. The old Delvian brought the cart back over to it's former place by the cell block doorway and Berret rejoined Andar by the glass wall, pretending to still be gloating over his imprisoned enemy. Malika glanced one last time over her shoulder to be sure everyone was in their proper places and gave the lens one final swipe of her cleaning clothe before inspecting it again. Seeming to be satisfied with the results of her labor, she smiled into the lens and climbed down from her stool. She gathered her equipment and spent a few more microts picking up a few things before going over to Shenna. Together the pair looked about one last time and pushed the cart out of the door.   
Andar and Berret gave them a few microns head start and then the pair left the holding area.  
"Almost done," said Andar in sotto voice to the Shrike as they took their time walking through the corridors.  
"We still have to met with Scorpius before we depart. Don't forget to keep your visor down and don't speak at all if you can help it. If someone realizes you aren't the trooper assigned to guard me, we are in big trouble," said the Shrike.  
The Sebacean man nodded his agreement. "Malika needs about 150 microts to re-wield the hole we cut into the access tunnels. It won't do to have a hull breech when they depressurize the landing bay."  
They rounded a corner and found Scorpius and his entourage waiting for them at the appointed place.  
Berret started to wobble as they approached, keeping as if he were still slightly drunk.  
"Ah, Shrike Berret... right on time," said Scorpius in his sickening sweet voice.  
"Where else would I be?" asked Berret.  
Scorpius gave him a knowing look; "I thought maybe you might have decided to dally some more with Sergeant Pikes' duty officer."  
Berret cringed on the inside as the half-Scarren mentioned the incident in front of Andar. For an unknown number of times he wished he'd remembered to ask Shenna what had happened after the Raslek finally caught up with him and again hoped that Chiana never found out about it.  
"No, no dallying. We have business to get on with," he told the PK commander.  
Scorpius smiled and waved a hand to indicate that the Shrike should watch the work in progress through an observation port. Warning lights blinked on and a siren sounded. Inside the loading bay they had been in earlier where the food shipment had been stored, an elevator platform began to raise the transport crate up into the open roof and into open space.  
"The food stuff you required is now waiting for your ship to pick up after it launches from the landing bay. You are sure you have the proper grapples to attach to the crate?" Scorpius asked.  
"My Wraith is equipped with cargo grapples," the Shrike answered.  
"Good, then I shall escort you to your craft and we can complete our other business before you leave."  
Scorpius led the way, walking along beside Berret. "I would try and talk you into joining me one last time but I can see your mind is made up. However I do ask that you reconsider it. There will still be time after you deliver Crichton for you to change your mind."  
Berret didn't say anything; instead he gave the black-clad being a knowing grin.  
"I see. Well... there is still plenty of time. You may see the light yet," finished Scorpius.  
The Peacekeeper excused most of his lieutenants as they arrived outside the doors to the landing bay where the Wraith was being kept. Luckily no one thought of dismissing Andar as he played at being Berret's guard. Scorpius turned to his one remaining personal bodyguard and instructed the man to hand him the bag he had slung over one shoulder. He pulled out a long cylinder shape object and showed it to the ex-assassin.  
"Here's the device I promised you. Just place it in or near the Leviathan's neural cluster and activate it with this button. Two arns later it will activate and release a chemical gas that will eat through the walls of the cluster chamber and into the starburst collection chamber... resulting in an massive explosion which will completely destroy the Leviathan and all aboard her. Just make sure you and your Nebari tralk have Crichton well away in that time. Once the device is activated it cannot be turned off again."   
Berret took the bag with its deadly cargo and slung it over his shoulder. Scorpius smiled and nodded one last time.  
"I guess we are done here. I look forward to seeing you again, Berret... with our friend John with you next time."  
"I look forward to concluding out business and hope you hold up your end of the bargain," countered Berret.  
Scorpius gave him a wicked smile, "Of course you do." He then turned to the helmeted Andar and instructed, "Be sure our friend gets safely on his way."  
Andar came to attention as Scorpius spoke to him and bowed his head as he accepted his orders.  
Scorpius turned and began to walk away, followed by his guard. "I shall see you soon," he threw over his shoulder as they rounded a corner and disappeared from view.  
Berret watched them go and then turned to Andar who was visibly relieved.  
"Frell, he gives me the creeps," said the Sebacean.  
"I second that, "admitted Berret. "Lets get the yotz out of here."  
  
Inside the bay they scrambled aboard the Wraith, feeling a little safer as the hatch cycled closed behind them. It was a little crowded with five people on board but they made do. Berret strapped himself into the pilot's seat after having to step over Val'Cirrus' slumbering body.  
"Did you remember to reseal the hole we cut in the wall?" Andar asked as he strapped himself in to his seat. Malika frowned and gave him a slightly annoyed look.  
"No, I thought I'd let the place air out when we left. Of course I wielded it shut again. Stop trying to micro-manage everything," she said as she checked her instruments.  
"I was just checking," Andar replied, then he turned and called up to Berret, "Stealth system online and functioning at 100%."  
"Weapon systems hot," reported Malika and then she turned and stuck her tongue out at Andar. The bickering told Berret that they were both as glad as he was to be leaving, so he did his best to ignore it.  
"Wraith?" he asked as the engines cycled up to speed.  
"Online, Shrike 457," the AI responded.  
"Inform the Carrier command that we are ready for departure."  
"Acknowledged."  
The bay's warning lights flashed and the sirens sounded. Outside the ship, Berret could hear the huge pumps began to evacuate the atmosphere from the bay. As the air thinned to vacuum the sound of the sirens faded. Behind the Wraith, the huge bays doors opened to starlit space.  
"Command reports we may leave when ready," reported the AI  
"Here we go," said Berret as the craft left the deck of the bay to hover. The landing gear retracted, leaving only the missile pod deployed open. The reverse thrusters fired to gently back the Wraith out of the landing bay. Once outside the carrier the Wraith rose toward the top of the huge ship to pick up the cargo crate.  
"We have just been actively scanned," informed Andar from his station. "That was to be expected and the stealth system defeated it. They got nothing."  
"Can't blame them for trying," Berret added in.  
Their ship made it to the loading bay and settled over the food crate. Andar directed Berret until he was over the cargo. "Okay, we're in position," he announced. He looked over at Malika and gave her a nod.  
The Delvian girl stroked several switches and a loud thump sounded from the Wraith's underbelly.  
"Missile pod retracted," she reported.  
"Transferring control of docking thrusters to your station," Berret told Andar.  
Andar looked at his small screen that showed the crate under them against a target that he would use to line up the grapples with the locking rungs built into the crate. Hitting a switch there was a sound of motors whirling.   
"Grapples deployed," he said as he took the small joystick in one hand.  
Berret got up from his seat and took the bag Scorpius had given him toward the rear of the craft. Stopping momentary to watch Andar jockey the Wraith into position on the crate. The thrusters fired above his head as he continued on to the trash disposal unit in the rear of the flight deck.  
"What's that?" asked Shenna as he dumped the bag inside the unit and sealed the door.  
"The bomb Scorpius gave me to destroy Moya. We're going to dump that at the same time we do the crate before we met your ship," answered the younger Shrike.  
The Wraith gently trembled as the grapples make contact with the cargo crate.  
"Got it," announced Andar as he secured his station. "We're ready to go," he added as Berret dropped back into his seat.  
"I hear that," he muttered as he took back control of his thrusters and ordered the Wraith to gain some altitude from the carrier. He could tell there was extra weight from the crate as the ship handled heavier then normal. He throttled up the engines and the Wraith shot away from the Peacekeeper vessel.   
"They're still trying to track us on scans," said Andar. "They can't lock on us."  
"Don't bet on it," Berret replied. "Wraith, scan the cargo crate for tracking signals."  
"Complying," said the AI, a few moments later it continued, "A passive low-band tracking device has been detected inside the cargo crate."  
"So much for trust," quipped Malika.  
Andar made a show of appearing put out, "If you can't trust a Peacekeeper, whom can you trust?"  
"Never the less," said Berret, "Wraith set a course 93 degrees to port of the rendezvous point and inform me when we are one sector out from our current position."  
"Acknowledged."  
The Shrike sat back in his seat and then turned to give his shipmates a rare smile.  
"We did it," he said, almost as if he didn't believe it.  
Andar and Malika grinned back at him, while Shenna sat there and regarded the group with a smug, almost fatherly look of pride. Berret attention turned to Val'Cirrus who was still lying on the floor out cold.  
"We have to do something with her. I don't want her waking up in here."  
Shenna held up one hand to halt his thought. "Malika and I gave her something to keep her under. We thought you might feel that way about her coming around. She'll be asleep until well after we part ways."  
Berret nodded his head. "I hope you know what you're doing with her, old man," he said before turning around in his seat to monitor his controls. 


	13. Chapter 12

Half an arn later the AI announced, "We have reached the desired location."  
Berret flicked off the autopilot control and check his board readings.  
"Wraith, lay in a course another 15 degrees to port and match speed."  
The AI obeyed his order and confirmed the new heading as soon as it was matched. When the ship was back up to normal cruising speed, Berret signaled Andar to release the grapples. The Wraith shook slightly as the crate was released to travel along at the same current velocity as the craft.  
"Wraith, empty the trash hold," Berret next ordered. A short burst of compressed air and the contents of the trash bin traveled along side the crate and the Wraith.  
"Time to go home," Berret said as he steer away from the cargo crate and bomb, allowing them to continue on with their journey. "Wraith, Bring us back onto the rendezvous coordinates."  
"Acknowledged, changing course 108 degrees starboard. Coordinates adjusted and laid in," reported the AI.  
"Adjust speed to Hetch 8 and engage autopilot," ordered the Shrike.  
Malika flopped back into her chair. "The first thing I'm going to do when we get back to Moya is take a nice long shower and sleep in my own bed for about a weeken."  
Andar leaned back and rubbed his temples, "Me too," he said, "Probably right after the eema chewing we're gonna get from the others for taking off without telling them."  
Malika frowned. "No good deed goes unpunished, huh?" she said with a lopsided grin.  
Andar chuckled, "You've been hanging around Rygel too long."  
  
===================================Epilogue===================================  
  
  
The massive maintenance bay doors rumbled opened as Berret started to descend the Wraith's short main staircase. Andar and Malika were already on Moya's deck as the rest of the crew came rushing in. Zhaan plowed forward and embraced the Delvian and Sebacean both at the same time. She alternately laughed in relief and attempted to scold the pair, her stern reprimands broken by periods of laughter and hugging. Berret hit the deck with his cloak draped over one arm just as Chiana arrived, panting and almost totally out of breathe from running to the landing bay. She paused as her eyes found the Shrike's tall figure waiting there. Berret wasn't sure if the young woman was angry with him or not when he first saw her but he thought he had his answer as the girl charged forward and wrapped her arms around him. He was genuinely surprised by the welcome, but when he tried to speak she stopped him.  
"No, don't say anything. I am so frelling mad at you I don't know where to start."  
Berret was confused. "If you're angry with me, why are you hugging me like you are not?" he asked.  
"Just shut up. We'll talk about it later," she told him as she continued the embrace. "We're just glad you all made it back alive."  
Aeryn and John approached the Shrike as Chiana finished speaking.  
"Well, I'm ready to talk about it now," said the ex-Peacekeeper as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at Berret. "What the frell possessed you to take those two children and run off to visit Scorpius without consulting with the rest of us?"  
"You would have insisted on coming along," answered the Shrike.  
"And what? Spoiled your fun?" Aeryn said sarcastically.  
"No, gotten us caught," Berret said. "What did Andar tell you?" he asked nervously glancing at Chiana.  
"What?" replied Aeryn. "Nothing, Zhaan has barely let us have two words with him or Malika. She's too busy mothering them."  
"That's because you were trying to interrogate them. Slow down, you can work them over with your rubber hose later," put in John.  
"Rubber hose?" Berret asked Chiana, who only shrugged to show that she had no idea what Crichton was talking about either.  
Crichton turned to the Shrike. "Berret, I don't agree with the way you did things but I'm grateful to all three of you for taking this risk for me. Zhaan says she should be ready to transmit the codes to the neural chip in an arn or so." He held out a hand to the ex-assassin. Berret looked unsure at the offered hand until Chiana whispered to him what he was suppose to do with it. The two shook hands as John said, "I owe you one, Man. I won't forget it." Crichton then took Aeryn by the arm and led her away from the couple saying,  
"Come on, drinks are on me in the center chamber." He looked up at the holo-comm on the wall as they passed and shouted, "Pilot, prepare to Starburst. Get us the hell out of here."  
"Right away, Commander," answered Pilot's image. "Starbursting in thirty microts."  
Berret turned back to Chiana. "What one does he owe me?" he asked her.  
The girl smiled up at him before replying, "It means he'll be there for you when you need him."   
She had started leading him out of the maintenance bay and before he could ask another question their path was blocked by D'argo's huge form. Berret wasn't looking forward to facing the warrior's anger and he was hoping to put it off for a while until after he'd had a chance to rest. D'argo apparently had other ideas.  
The Luxan stood in the doorway with both massive arms crossed in front of his barrel-like chest just as Aeryn had. His eyes narrowed as he silently scrutinized the Shrike. A low growl began to issue from his throat, though unlike the normal growling the warrior did when he was angry... this growl had a lighter, almost tolerant tone to it. After a few microts the Luxan nodded his head almost as if giving reluctant approval and then uncrossed his arms and left the bay.  
"Well," said Chiana as Berret watched D'argo leave the bay in wonder, "It looks like you won a small bit of respect from some people." She smiled up at him again and he looked back at her with an odd look on his face. "What's wrong?" she asked.  
"I didn't do it for respect," he said.   
"Then why did you do it?"  
"Wasn't it the right thing to do?" He asked looking at her, copying the way she sometimes tilted her head.  
"That depends on the person," she told him.  
"Would you have gone?" he asked next.  
"I dunno. That's hard to say," she admitted. "I never know what I would do until I'm in that situation."  
Berret turned away and they began walking toward the center chamber again.  
"You would have, that's why I went," he said a few microts later. "I'm trying to be more like you."  
She paused him in their walk as what he was saying sunk in.  
"Berret... you have a lot to learn about me. I can't say that I would have risked myself for somebody else. It's not in my nature to put my neck out. I'm not as good as you see me."  
He looked into her dark eyes and then asked, "Would you have come after me if we hadn't returned?"  
"I wanted too, but Aeryn and Zhaan wouldn't let me take a Prowler..." she stopped as she realized what she's just said.  
The Shrike smiled and took her hand to begin their walk to the ship's mess once again.  
"Maybe I know you better then you think," he said with a smile.  
They felt the familiar throb of raw power as Moya leap into Starburst a microt later.  
  
Later that night, Berret found himself alone on the Command tier gazing out the forward view screen. Chiana had fallen asleep after the long talk they'd had about his "stunt" as she called it. Unable to sleep himself, he thought now would be a good time to sit in Command to think over the adventure they had on Scorpius' Command Carrier without worrying about the danger of running into the still irate Aeryn. Zhaan had had some crossed words for him but in the end she understood why he had done things the way he had. The Delvian priestess had forgiven him after he promised to not to go off without discussing it with the others again. Somehow, Berret thought that just might turn out to be a difficult promise to keep, but he would try his best to honor it. Malika and Andar had disappeared, probably each to their quarters after the meal, but not before the pair made an odd reference to something being a double standard in the Delvian girl's favor. The Shrike watched the stars slide by for a few microns then became aware of the slight hum coming from the holo clamshell.  
"Hello, Pilot," Berret said without turning around from the view screen.  
"Good evening, Berret. I trust you are well," asked Moya's helmsman.  
"Yes, thank you. And Moya and yourself?" the ex-assassin asked being polite.  
"We are fine. I must tell you... Moya and I are most impressed with the performance of the three of you. We are happy to have you back."  
"Thank you," said the Shrike with a slight bow of his head as he turned to face the image, "But it is Andar and Malika who deserve the commendation. They had the most dangerous parts of the plan to execute and they performed their parts admirably. They work extremely well together."  
"Yes, for those so young, they showed extreme courage. Crichton is now no longer in danger and we have you three to thank for it."  
Berret nodded his head along with Pilot's comment but he still looked as if something bothered him.  
"What else is wrong, Berret?" Pilot asked.  
"I'm afraid I failed to watch over them as well as I promised I would. They were on their own much of the time," he confessed.  
"Moya and I are sure you did what you could to protect and guide them," replied the image.   
Berret chuckled amusingly and at Pilot enquiring look he added, "I'm afraid they are the one's who guided me. They told you about us helping rescue Val'Cirrus?"  
Pilot's hologram nodded at him, "It took great courage to help your enemy."  
"What they didn't tell you is they had to force me do the right thing. I was all for leaving her in Scorpius' care."  
Pilot blinked his big eyes and simply nodded his head at his statement. Berret thought he was changing his mind about what he thought about him.  
"Aren't you disappointed with me?" he asked, fully expecting Pilot to express his changed feelings.  
"You still help Shenna and the others rescue her?"  
"Yes."  
"You still went on the mission to help Crichton?" Pilot blinked his huge eyes again at him.  
"Yes," Berret said again.  
"Then you are trying to become a better person despite your past. That is all we or anyone else can ask of you, Berret. We are still proud of what you've done," Pilot finished with a smile.  
Strangely relieved to still have Pilot's and the Leviathan's good thoughts, he turned back to the view screen.  
"Thank you, Pilot. Your and Moya's opinions mean a great deal to me. I will try to live up to them in the future."  
"As long as you try... it will be enough," Pilot told him.  
Outside a comet cut across Moya's path a few million metra ahead of them. Berret allowed himself a small smile. "This new life is full of changes," he thought. He hoped he was up to the challenge of making a home for himself here with this crew for the time they had left together. These values these strange beings were trying to teach where confusing most of the time. Time and again they would protest the folly of sticking their necks out to aid someone else and time and again they would do it anyway. Contradiction seemed to be the rule of the day most of the time among this jumble of contrary beings. Berret sighed to himself. It seemed that Pilot and Moya where the only unwavering personalities aboard. The Shrike decided not to think about it anymore and let his mind wander out with the stars for a while. Before he realized it a yawn escaped him and he felt pleasantly tired. He decided to head back to his quarters and get some sleep; strangely... he was looking forward to a night of the Pixie poking him in the side with her elbows. 


End file.
